Mamdani’s inauguration: New York, new year, new mayor

NEW YORK - Mr Zohran Mamdani was a trailblazing candidate whom many in his city of eight million – some with hope, some with trepidation – expect to be a disruptive New York mayor.

The democratic socialist’s plans for his first day in office on Jan 1 nod to his politics and priorities, without straying far from his predecessors with a sober official midnight oath-taking followed by a more celebratory ceremony in the afternoon.  

New York law spells out that four-year mayoral terms start on the Jan 1 after elections. To avoid any ambiguity about who is in charge of America’s most populous city, it has become a tradition to hold a small midnight swearing-in. 

Mr Mamdani has chosen as the site of his midnight oath the Old City Hall subway stop, which was decommissioned in the middle of the previous century and is accessible only a few times a year through guided tours.

The subway site, according to Mr Mamdani’s transition team, reflects his “commitment to the working people who keep our city running every day”.

Mr Mamdani, a 34-year-old former state lawmaker, promised a freeze on rents and free buses and childcare, building a campaign around affordability issues that some have seen as a path forward for his Democratic Party around the country ahead of mid-term elections. 

Mr Mamdani inspired a record-breaking turnout of more than two million voters and took 50 per cent, nearly 10 points ahead of Andrew Cuomo running as an independent and well ahead of Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

New York State Attorney-General Letitia James, who was among Mr Mamdani’s earliest prominent backers, was to administer the midnight oath to Mr Mamdani.

During the first administration of President Donald Trump, Ms James began investigating his business practices in New York, resulting in a judge finding in 2024 that Mr Trump fraudulently overstated his net worth to dupe lenders. The Trump administration has targeted Ms James during his second term, accusing her of mortgage fraud.

Syracuse University political science professor Grant Reeher said the role Ms James was to play in the inauguration sent a message to core supporters that Mr Mamdani is “going to be independent of the president”.

Inauguration of a new era

The Uganda-born Mr Mamdani, who will be New York City’s first Muslim mayor, has been a sharp critic of Mr Trump on issues such as immigration and said his differences with the president were numerous after a warm White House meeting. 

But being sworn in by the state attorney-general may say more about Mr Mamdani’s political alliances than rivalries. In 2014, Mr Bill de Blasio, whom Mr Mamdani regards as the best New York City mayor of his lifetime, was sworn in privately by then-New York Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman at the start of the first of his two terms.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a progressive, Brooklyn-born Vermont senator whom Mr Mamdani calls his inspiration, presided over Mr de Blasio’s public inauguration ceremony in 2018 and will play a similar role for Mr Mamdani.

Liberal Democratic US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is also on the inauguration ceremony agenda.

Plans for Mr Mamdani’s public inauguration include a ceremony on City Hall’s steps and a programme of music and speeches in front of 4,000 guests gathered in City Hall Plaza. In addition, tens of thousands of people will be able to watch a live stream of what Mr Mamdani’s team has dubbed the “Inauguration of a New Era” in free viewing areas set up along Broadway.

Mr Mamdani raised US$2.6 million (S$3.34 million) for the transition and celebrations from nearly 30,000 contributors, more than other mayors on record in this century, both by the total and single donations, according to official campaign data that presents disclosures of inaugural expenses beginning with Mr Michael Bloomberg’s first term in 2001.

Sami Zaman, the owner of Astoria’s low-key Afghan restaurant Sami’s Kabab House, where Mr Mamdani filmed a campaign video with Mr Sanders, was on the inaugural committee alongside film-makers, writers and activists.  

After becoming mayor, Mr Mamdani will move from his one-bedroom Astoria apartment, protected from sharp price hikes by the city rent-stabilisation programme, to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York City mayors on Manhattan’s upscale Upper East Side.

Bankers and others in New York, the nation's financial capital, had expressed concern about Mr Mamdani but since his election they have explored how to work with him.

The city has had another mayor associated with democratic socialism, Mr David Dinkins.

Mr Dinkins did not make much of his association with the Democratic Socialists of America. During his 1990-1993 term, he overcame budget deficits and persuaded private businesses to remain in New York, according to city archivists. REUTERS