Zohran Mamdani became Mayor of New York City on Thursday (January 1, 2026), taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city’s striving, struggling working class.

In his inaugural speech, the Indian-origin politician vowed to govern “expansively and audaciously” and deliver an agenda of affordability for New Yorkers as he thanked his family from “Kampala to Delhi” after being sworn-in as the 112th Mayor of New York City.

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Mr. Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city’s first Muslim Mayor.

After working part of the night in his new office, Mr. Mamdani then returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday (January 1) for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the Mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.

In his nearly 25 minute speech to New Yorkers after taking the oath of office, Mr. Mamdani said that “beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try.”

He vowed that under his administration, City Hall will “deliver an agenda of safety, affordability, and abundance, where government looks and lives like the people it represents, never flinches in the fight against corporate greed, and refuses to cower before challenges that others have deemed too complicated.”

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalized U.S. citizen only recently in 2018.

“To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives,” he said.

Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

Taxing the rich Throughout the ceremony, speakers hit on the theme that carried Mr. Mamdani to victory in the election: Devotion to using government power to lift up the millions of people who struggle with the city’s high cost of living.

Mr. Sanders insisted that doing so — partly by raising taxes on the rich — wouldn’t be radical.

“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” he told the crowd. “It is the right and decent thing to do.” In opening remarks, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Mr. Mamdani would be a Mayor dedicated to the working class.

“It is the people of New York who have chosen historic, ambitious leadership in response to untenable and unprecedented times. New York, we have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,” she said.

Mr. Mamdani was accompanied on the stage by his wife, Rama Duwaji. The previous Mayor, Eric Adams, was in attendance, sitting near another former mayor, Bill de Blasio.

Actor Mandy Patinkin, who recently hosted Mr. Mamdani to celebrate Hannukah, sang “Over the Rainbow” with children from an elementary school chorus. The invocation was given by Imam Khalid Latif, the director of the Islamic Center of New York City. Poet Cornelius Eady read an original poem called “Proof.” In addition to being the city’s first Muslim Mayor, Mr. Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mr. Mamdani is also the city’s youngest Mayor in generations.

Free child care and bus rides In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

Mr. Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mr. Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

Mr. Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, are departing their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.

Mr. Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.

Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.

He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

During the mayoral race, Mr. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mr. Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.

But Mr. Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.

The progressives take on Trump Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.

Several speakers at Thursday’s inauguration criticised the Trump administration’s move to deport more immigrants and expressed hope that Mr. Mamdani’s City Hall would be an ally to those the president has targeted.

Mr. Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.

The new Mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mr. Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.

That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy

With AP, PTI inputs