Zohran Mamdani took oath as the new mayor of New York City just after midnight on January 1, 2026, at a historic ceremony held inside a decommissioned subway station in Manhattan. The Indian-origin Democrat became the first Muslim mayor of America’s largest city, placing his hand on the Quran as he was sworn in.
“This is truly the honour and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said after taking the oath.
The ceremony was held at the old City Hall subway station, one of New York’s earliest underground stops, known for its grand arches and historic design. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a close political ally, administered the oath, while Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, held the Quran.
Later in the day, Mamdani is scheduled to take oath again at a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 pm local time. The second swearing-in will be conducted by US Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Mamdani’s political inspirations. The event will be followed by a public block party on Broadway’s “Canyon of Heroes,” a location famous for its traditional ticker-tape parades.
At 34, Zohran Mamdani is among the youngest mayors New York City has seen in generations. Along with being the city’s first Muslim mayor, he is also the first mayor of South Asian origin and the first to be born in Africa. Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1991 to renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani.
His family moved to New York City when he was seven years old, and he grew up in a post-9/11 atmosphere where Muslims often felt unwelcome. He became an American citizen in 2018. Before entering electoral politics, Mamdani worked on several Democratic campaigns and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, representing a district in Queens.
Mamdani ran his mayoral campaign on the issue of affordability, promising major relief in one of the world’s most expensive cities. As a democratic socialist, he pledged free childcare, free bus services, a rent freeze for nearly one million households and a pilot programme for city-run grocery stores. At the same time, he will now be responsible for everyday city issues such as sanitation, housing, public transport, snow removal and infrastructure maintenance.
He and his wife will soon move out of their one-bedroom, rent-stabilised apartment in an outer borough to the official mayoral residence in Manhattan.
Mamdani takes charge of a city that has shown strong recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has fallen to pre-pandemic levels, tourism has returned and unemployment is back to where it stood before the health crisis. However, high prices and rising rents continue to worry New Yorkers.
The new mayor will also have to navigate a complex relationship with Republican President Donald Trump. During the election campaign, Trump had threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mamdani won and had even spoken about deploying National Guard troops. However, after Mamdani’s victory, Trump invited him to the White House for a meeting in November. “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump had said.
Despite this, political tensions are expected to continue, especially over immigration policies. Mamdani also faces criticism from sections of the city’s Jewish community due to his outspoken criticism of the Israeli government.
In preparation for taking office, Mamdani has assembled an experienced transition team and has retained Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, a move seen as an effort to reassure business leaders and residents concerned about major changes in policing.
With his oath, Zohran Mamdani begins one of the toughest and most closely watched jobs in American politics, as New York City enters a new chapter under its youngest and most diverse leadership in decades.
