New York, 1 Jan

Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor in a private ceremony at the historic Old City Hall subway station moments after midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The 34-year-old Queens assemblyman of Indian descent became the first South Asian and Muslim elected to lead the largest US city. Sworn in on a Quran by state Attorney General Letitia James, Mamdani was joined by his wife, artist Rama Duwaji, family, and close advisers.

A ceremonial public inauguration will follow later outside City Hall, where Senator Bernie Sanders will administer the oath of office.

Mamdani, son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to New York at age 7. He became a naturalized US citizen in 2018. “This marks the beginning of a new era for the city that puts working New Yorkers front and centre,” Mamdani said.

Choosing the Old City Hall station, one of NYC’s first 28 subway stations, Mamdani said it symbolises a city “that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working people’s lives. That ambition need not be a memory confined to our past; it will guide our administration.”

The Quran used for the swearing-in was from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, a 19th-century Ottoman Syrian manuscript preserved for everyday use. “It symbolises inclusion, representation, and civic-mindedness,” NYPL President Anthony Marx said.

Mamdani defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, in November. In his victory speech, he invoked Jawaharlal Nehru, saying: “A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new… Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new. So let us speak now, with clarity and conviction that cannot be misunderstood, about what this new age will deliver, and for whom.”

Mamdani’s swearing-in marks a historic milestone for New York City, reflecting both the growing influence of the Indian diaspora in US politics and a promise of governance that prioritises working people and inclusive leadership.