Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani sworn in on Quran as NYC’s 112th mayor
- - Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani sworn in on Quran as NYC’s 112th mayor
Craig McCarthy, Matt TroutmanDecember 31, 2025 at 9:04 PM
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He’s painting the town red.
A triumphant Zohran Mamdani took the oath of office to become the Big Apple’s mayor just moments into the New Year — kicking off an uncharted era with a proud socialist at the helm of the nation’s largest city.
The 34-year-old Queens state assemblyman was sworn in on a Quran as the city’s 112th mayor — and its second-youngest — by state Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday morning below City Hall Park in a grand, abandoned old subway stop with his wife, artist Rama Duwaji, by his side.
Zohran Mamdani takes the oath of office to become the 112th mayor of New York City with his wife — and the city’s new first lady — Rama Duwaji. AP
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said after swearing to faithfully discharge his duties as mayor and paying the $9 filing fee in cash.
Mamdani also wished New Yorkers “both inside this tunnel and above” a happy New Year.
“I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow as we begin our term,” he said.
After the ceremony, Mamdani named Mike Flynn, a former Department of Transportation director, as his DOT commissioner.
“I can think of no better person,” Mamdani said of his DOT pick.
Flynn started out as a project manager for DOT’s pedestrian and bicycle programs in 2005 and rose to director of capital planning and project initiation when he left the agency in 2014, according to his LinkedIn page.
Mamdani and his team “fundamentally understand the role that transportation plays in the day to day lives in New Yorkers,” the incoming commissioner said, pledging that under his leadership DOT would “think big and deliver big on our ambitious agenda.”
“I’m grateful, Mr. Mayor, for entrusting me with this critical role, which I consider the job of a lifetime, and I’m ready, I’m excited, to hit the ground running and deliver real results for New Yorkers,” Flynn added.
Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, told reporters at the old station that she never imagined her son would be mayor.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives to take the oath of office to become the Big Apple’s mayor just moments into the New Year on Jan. 1, 2026. Craig McCarthy
Asked if she’ll be involved, helping give advice to her son, Nair responded: “Of course, I’m going to be the mother of New York City.”
The majestic location for the ceremony was chosen because it symbolized the legacy of an ambitious New York City, Mamdani said in a nod to his sweeping socialist agenda.
“When 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 both beautiful and build great things that would transform working peoples’ lives,” Mamdani said about the old stop.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani hugs New York Attorney General Letitia James after being sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, 2026. AP
“That ambition need not be a memory confined only to our past, nor must it be isolated only to the tunnels beneath City Hall: it will be the purpose of the administration fortunate enough to serve New Yorkers from the building above.”
Mamdani’s subway station ceremony — a small event with few members of the media in attendance — will be followed later Thursday afternoon by a jubilant block party bash, where thousands will watch outside City Hall as Sen. Bernie Sanders again swears in the new mayor.
The progressive partying, however, will likely quickly become a distant memory as Mamdani turns to actually governing New York City — a task often described as the second-toughest job in America.
Zohran Mamdani embraces his wife, Rama Duwaji, after being sworn in as mayor of New York City. AP
Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, takes over from Mayor Eric Adams, a conservative Dem and former cop, whose single term in office was marred by alleged corruption even as the city made gains on tackling crime and the housing crisis.
The Uganda-born mayor inherits a New York City still plagued by the housing crisis, as well as a struggling school system with a depleted number of students and staffing shortages in a number of agencies, including NYPD, FDNY and EMS.
Mamdani has vowed to quickly deliver on his big-ticket campaign promises such as offering universal childcare, city-run grocery stores, free buses and freezing the rent — a slate of socialist freebies and other agenda items that are expected to cost more than $10 billion.
A rent freeze and delivering no-cost childcare will be Mamdani’s priorities during his first year in office, he has said.
But those grand plans could be imperiled by the city facing a budget gap this fiscal year of nearly $400 million and another $6.5 billion next year, on top of potentially billions of dollars in cuts from the federal government.
Zohran Mamdani was elected with just over 50% of the vote, while Andrew Cuomo was able to muster up 43% on an obscure party line. Aristide Economopoulos for NY Post
How Mamdani navigates the deficits could be seen within his first 100 days, during which time his administration likely will deliver a preliminary budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
The budget process very well could prove a test of Mamdani’s working relationship with Gov. Kathy Hochul and his former colleagues in the state Legislature — as well as the City Council, especially its presumptive Speaker Julie Menin, who’s widely seen as a potential moderate counterbalance to the firebrand socialist.
Other pressing tasks on Mamdani’s desk include finishing appointments for unfilled cabinet positions such as sanitation commissioner.
The Mamdani administration will face early hurdles with the city budget deficit. Paul Martinka for NY Post
He will also inherit a city where shootings and shoplifting — two key COVID-era crime trends — have hit all-time lows.
But major felonies overall still remain up by more than 20% from pre-pandemic era years, which Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who will stay on as top cop under Mamdani, has blamed on the 2019 criminal justice reforms.
Mamdani vowed to make the city more affordable on the campaign trail this past year, when he beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the Democratic primary and general election in November that saw a historically high turnout.
Cuomo, though, still managed to pull in 43% of the vote while running on an obscure third-party line in November, raising questions over whether Mamdani would enter office with a mandate for his far-left agenda after getting just over half of the more than 2 million votes.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
