Zohran Mamdani formally assumed office after taking the oath as mayor of New York City

The city’s youngest mayor, aged 34, was sworn into office by Attorney General Letitia James at the former Beaux-Arts City Hall subway station.

Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City shortly after midnight in a private ceremony held at a deserted Beaux-Arts subway station. It was the start of a day-long celebration that included a second public swearing-in and a block party outside City Hall. He was accompanied by his wife, Rama Duvvuri, and family members, including his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African Studies at Columbia University.

“This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said. “I can’t wait to meet everyone tomorrow as we begin our term.”

“After being sworn in as mayor of New York City, I am also taking the oath here in the old City Hall subway station – a testament to the importance of public transportation to the life, health, and heritage of our city.”

Mamdani then announced and welcomed the city’s new transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn, a veteran city planner, with the mayor saying he wanted to make New York’s public transportation network “the envy of the world.” Flynn said he was accepting a “job of a lifetime.”

“Thank you all very much… and I’ll see you later,” Mamdani concluded, drawing laughter from the audience, and then he walked up the wide subway stairs where he took the oath, followed by those in attendance.

Among those present at the ceremony was Mayor Eric Adams, who had not promised to attend but later said he “wanted to be there to show a smooth, peaceful transition of power.”

To honor his Muslim faith, Mamdani took the oath using the Quran, Islam’s holiest book, becoming the first New York City mayor to do so.

According to The New York Times, he took the oath at midnight, placing his hand on his grandfather’s Quran and a Quran belonging to Arturo Schomburg, a Black writer and historian, which was loaned to the mayor by the New York Public Library.

Also present was a diverse group of New Yorkers chosen for the inaugural committee, including actor John Turturro, playwright Cole Escola, and author Colson Whitehead, as well as lawyers, small business owners, and campaign workers. The incoming mayor’s office said these individuals provided “perspective, guidance, and cultural understanding” for the ceremony.

Following a midnight ceremony, a public event will be held at 1 p.m., where the new mayor will be introduced by his political ally and Bronx Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and sworn in by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Mamadani’s office said the decision to hold the swearing-in ceremony at the old City Hall subway station reflects his “commitment to the working people who keep our city running every day.”

“When the Old City Hall station first opened in 1904—one of New York’s 28 original subway stations—it was a physical monument to a city that dared to be beautiful while also building magnificent things that would transform the lives of working people,” Mamadani said in a statement.

“That ambition shouldn’t be confined to our past.” Today’s events represent a remarkable rise for both the political newcomer and the Democratic Socialist Party, which Mamadani, elected as a Democrat, represents, in the most populous city in the U.S.

The first signs of Mamadani’s electoral potential came earlier this year, ahead of a primary vote in which he defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who later ran as an independent candidate.

Adams, who was under investigation by federal prosecutors at the time, decided not to seek the Democratic nomination.

In April, Mamdani trailed Cuomo by a margin of 36% to 64%. Those numbers shifted after Mamdani’s savvy political campaign launched on social media; his robust ground game energized first-time voters struggling with the high cost of living in the post-pandemic city.

A campaign spokesperson attributed Mamdani’s success to his “omnipresence,” with more than 10,000 volunteers knocking on over 100,000 doors, and to his platform advocating for affordable housing, rent control, free subway transportation, and mobile grocery stores—as well as creating a Department of Community Safety to invest in mental health programs citywide.

Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic campaign strategist, said Mamdani “represents the future of the city—a more Asian city, a more Muslim city, and a more left-wing city.”

In November, the then-State Assembly member won the election with 50.78% of the vote, defeating Republican activist Curtis Sliwa and Cuomo. In his victory speech, Mamdani spoke of his commitment to the working people of New York who have historically lacked access to power.

“Let the words we have spoken together and the dreams we have dreamed together become the agenda we will accomplish together,” he said. “New York, this power, it belongs to you. This city belongs to you.”