Socialist NYC Mayor Mamdani inaugurated alongside Bernie Sanders and AOC on New Year’s Day
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., swore in self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s mayor Thursday, calling his election "the greatest political upset in modern history."
The inauguration ceremony took place New Year’s Day afternoon outside New York City’s historic City Hall.
During his inauguration speech, Mamdani, 34, leaned directly into his ideology, telling the crowd he had no intention of moderating his approach while mayor.
"I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist," he said.
The newly-minted mayor also made clear that his administration would pursue an aggressive expansion of government power.
"Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously," Mamdani said, acknowledging that his agenda may not always succeed but insisting it would be bold. "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."
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The 1 p.m. inauguration was open to "all New Yorkers," the Mamdani transition team said in a news release, adding that a "huge inaugural block party" will take place afterward on Broadway along the Canyon of Heroes.
New York Attorney General Letitia James administered the oath of office to Mamdani at midnight. Mamdani used a Quran during his midnight 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.
In addition to Sanders and James, staunch Mamdani supporter and progressive New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered the opening remarks at Mamdani’s public inauguration, where she declared a "new era" for New York City.
Ocasio-Cortez said the people of New York City "have chosen historic, ambitious leadership in response to untenable and unprecedented times."
"New York City has chosen the ambitious pursuit of universal child care, affordable rents and housing, and clean and dignified public transit for all," she added. "And we have chosen that over the distractions of bigotry and the barbarism of extreme income inequality. We have chosen this path because we know that it's the right thing to do."
In a speech at the public inauguration, imam Khalid Latif from the Islamic Center of New York City said, "We gather today with hearts shaped by this city, by its noise in its neighborhoods, by its subways and sanctuaries, by the dreams carried in many languages, in the prayers whispered on crowded blocks."
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"We thank you for New York City, for a place that has taught the world how difference can become strength, how survival can become solidarity, how strangers can become neighbors. And for being a place that taught us that a young immigrant, Democratic socialist Muslim can be bold enough to run and brave enough to win, not by abandoning conviction, but by standing firmly within it, not by shrinking who he is, but by trusting that authenticity can move a city towards justice," he added.
New Yorkers elected the 34-year-old Mamdani in November to lead the nation’s largest city after a campaign where he made affordability the cornerstone of his agenda and successfully beat back critics who raised concerns about his anti-Israel statements and associations and socialist policies including freezing rent, city-run grocery stores, and past comments about defunding the police and abolishing private property.
Mamdani struck a unifying tone at times during his inaugural remarks Thursday, pledging to represent all New Yorkers regardless of political differences.
"Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you," he said.
