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New York City socialist mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was officially sworn in as mayor in a midnight ceremony by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The early Thursday morning event was a private ceremony where Mamdani was accompanied by family members at the Old City Hall Station, a decommissioned subway station with deep historical roots.
In a press release, the Mamdani transition team said the midnight swearing was chosen to be at a location symbolizing how the subway system is the “lifeblood of New York” and a “reminder of the city Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is fighting for: a city built by and for New Yorkers.”
“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. 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 said in the press release.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, administers the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, as his wife Rama Duwaji looks on, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
“When I take my oath from the station at the dawn of the New Year, I will do so humbled by the opportunity to lead millions of New Yorkers into a new era of opportunity, and honored to carry forward our city’s legacy of greatness.”
Mamdani used a Quran during his swearing-in ceremony, according to his campaign, making him the first Muslim mayor of NYC and the first to be sworn in using a Quran.
On Thursday afternoon, Mamdani will be sworn in publicly by Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders after opening remarks are delivered at his 1 p.m. inauguration by another progressive ally, Dem. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani signs a registry as city clerk Michael McSweeney holds the book after Mamdani was sworn in as mayor, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Typically, inauguration tickets are given out to roughly 4,000 people but the Mamdani transition team says all New Yorkers will be invited to the inauguration and a block party immediately following.
The 1 p.m. inauguration will take place on the steps of City Hall.
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Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, arrives with his wife Rama Duwaji for a swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mamdani soundly defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in early November, capping off a rapid political ascent that started with single-digit support when he announced his mayoral campaign in October 2024.