Zohran Mamdani said on Thursday, Jan. 1, that he was “honored” to serve as New York City’s next mayor. The ceremony took place in frigid weather on the steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
“My fellow New Yorkers — today begins a new era,” said Mamdani in his inaugural address. “I stand before you, moved by the privilege of taking this sacred oath, humbled by the faith that you have placed in me, and honored to serve as either your 111th or 112th Mayor of New York City. But I do not stand alone.
“I stand alongside you, the tens of thousands gathered here in Lower Manhattan, warmed against the January chill by the resurgent flame of hope,” he added. “I stand alongside countless more New Yorkers watching from cramped kitchens in Flushing and barbershops in East New York, from cell phones propped against the dashboards of parked taxi cabs at LaGuardia, from hospitals in Mott Haven and libraries in El Barrio that have too long known only neglect.
“I stand alongside construction workers in steel-toed boots and halal cart vendors whose knees ache from working all day. I stand alongside neighbors who carry a plate of food to the elderly couple down the hall, those in a rush who still lift strangers’ strollers up subway stairs, and every person who makes the choice day after day, even when it feels impossible, to call our city home,” Mamdani continued. “I stand alongside over one million New Yorkers who voted for this day nearly two months ago—and I stand just as resolutely alongside those who did not.”
The new mayor said he knows there are some who view his administration with distrust or disdain, or who see politics as permanently broken.
“And while only action can change minds, I promise you this: if you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor,” he said. “Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you.”
“And while only action can change minds, I promise you this: if you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor,” he said. “Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you.”
Mamdani thanked the labor and movement leaders, “the activists and elected officials who will return to fighting for New Yorkers the second this ceremony concludes, and the performers who have gifted us with their talent.
“Thank you to Governor Hochul for joining us. And thank you to Mayor Adams — Dorothy’s son, a son of Brownsville who rose from washing dishes to the highest position in our city — for being here as well,” he added. “He and I have had our share of disagreements, but I will always be touched that he chose me as the Mayoral candidate that he would most want to be trapped with on an elevator.
“Thank you to the two titans who, as an Assembly Member, I’ve had the privilege of being represented by in Congress—Nydia Velázquez and our incredible opening speaker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. You have paved the way for this moment,” he continued. “Thank you to the man whose leadership I seek most to emulate, who I am so grateful to be sworn in by today — Sen. Bernie Sanders. Thank you to my teams—from the Assembly, to the campaign, to the transition, and now, the team I am so excited to lead from City Hall.
“Thank you to my parents, Mama and Baba, for raising me, for teaching me how to be in this world, and for having brought me to this city,” Mamdani said. “Thank you to my family—from Kampala to Delhi. And thank you to my wife, Rama, for being my best friend, and for always showing me the beauty in everyday things. Most of all—thank you to the people of New York.”
For the New Yorkers most eager to see the city remade, he said, “the weight has only grown heavier, the wait has only grown longer.”
He said the only expectation he seeks to reset is that of small expectations.
He said the only expectation he seeks to reset is that of small expectations.
Beginning on Thursday, the mayor said he will “govern expansively and audaciously.
“We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” he said. “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.
“For too long, we have turned to the private sector for greatness, while accepting mediocrity from those who serve the public,” Mamdani added. “I cannot blame anyone who has come to question the role of government, whose faith in democracy has been eroded by decades of apathy. We will restore that trust by walking a different path—one where government is no longer solely the final recourse for those struggling, one where excellence is no longer the exception.
“We expect greatness from the cooks wielding a thousand spices, from those who stride out onto Broadway stages, from our starting point guard at Madison Square Garden,” he added. “Let us demand the same from those who work in government. In a city where the mere names of our streets are associated with the innovation of the industries that call them home, we will make the words ‘City Hall’ synonymous with both resolve and results.”
As he embarks on this work, Mamdani urges us to advance a new answer to the question asked of every generation: “Who does New York belong to?
“For much of our history, the response from City Hall has been simple: it belongs only to the wealthy and well-connected, those who never strain to capture the attention of those in power,” he said. “Working people have reckoned with the consequences. Crowded classrooms and public housing developments where the elevators sit out of order; roads littered with potholes and buses that arrive half an hour late, if at all; wages that do not rise and corporations that rip off consumers and employees alike.
“For much of our history, the response from City Hall has been simple: it belongs only to the wealthy and well-connected, those who never strain to capture the attention of those in power,” he said. “Working people have reckoned with the consequences. Crowded classrooms and public housing developments where the elevators sit out of order; roads littered with potholes and buses that arrive half an hour late, if at all; wages that do not rise and corporations that rip off consumers and employees alike.
“And still — there have been brief, fleeting moments where the equation changed,” he added, stating that 12 years ago, former Mayor Bill de Blasio “stood where I stand now as he promised to ‘put an end to economic and social inequalities’ that divided our city into two.
“In 1990, David Dinkins swore the same oath I swore today, vowing to celebrate the ‘gorgeous mosaic’ that is New York, where every one of us is deserving of a decent life,” he continued. “And nearly six decades before him, Fiorella La Guardia took office with the goal of building a city that was ‘far greater and more beautiful’ for the hungry and the poor.”
Mamdani said some of these Mayors achieved more success than others, but stated that they were unified by “a shared belief that New York could belong to more than just a privileged few.
Mamdani said some of these Mayors achieved more success than others, but stated that they were unified by “a shared belief that New York could belong to more than just a privileged few.
“It could belong to those who operate our subways and rake our parks, those who feed us biryani and beef patties, picanha and pastrami on rye,” he said. “And they knew that this belief could be made true if only the government dared to work hardest for those who work hardest.”
In the years to come, Mamdani said his administration will resurrect that legacy.
He said 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.”
He said 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.”
In so doing, he said his administration will provide “our own answer to that age-old question — who does New York belong to?
“Well, my friends, we can look to Madiba and the South African Freedom Charter: New York ‘belongs to all who live in it,’” he said. “Together, we will tell a new story of our city. “This will not be a tale of one city, governed only by the one %. Nor will it be a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor.
“Well, my friends, we can look to Madiba and the South African Freedom Charter: New York ‘belongs to all who live in it,’” he said. “Together, we will tell a new story of our city. “This will not be a tale of one city, governed only by the one %. Nor will it be a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor.
“It will be a tale of 8 and a half million cities, each of them a New Yorker with hopes and fears, each a universe, each of them woven together,” he added.
Mamdani, therefore, asked the public to “stand with us now, and every day that follows.
Mamdani, therefore, asked the public to “stand with us now, and every day that follows.
“City Hall will not be able to deliver on our own,” he said. “And while we will encourage New Yorkers to demand more from those with the great privilege of serving them, we will encourage you to demand more of yourselves as well.
“What we achieve together will reach across the five boroughs, and it will resonate far beyond,” the mayor added. “There are many who will be watching. They want to know if the left can govern. They want to know if the struggles that afflict them can be solved. They want to know if it is right to hope again.
“So, standing together with the wind of purpose at our backs, we will do something that New Yorkers do better than anyone else: we will set an example for the world,” Mamdani assured. “If what Sinatra said is true, let us prove that anyone can make it in New York — and anywhere else, too.
“Let us prove that when a city belongs to the people, there is no need too small to be met, no person too sick to be made healthy, no one too alone to feel like New York is their home,” he continued. “The work continues, the work endures, the work, my friends, has only just begun.”
