MAYOR MAMDANI: Queens democratic socialist takes the oath of office as NYC’s 112th mayor

Zohran Mamdani is officially the mayor of New York City.

The 34-year-old Queens democratic socialist and former Assembly member, elected in November on a campaign promising dramatic economic programs to make New York more affordable, ascended to the highest office in New York City at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. He was sworn in during an intimate ceremony at the old City Hall subway station about three miles south of the revelry in Times Square, where millions watched the New Year’s ball drop.

State Attorney General Letitia James administered the oath of office to Mamdani, who took it with his left hand on a historic Qur’an held by his wife, Rama Duwaji, and borrowed from the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Mamdani is the first Muslim and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as New York City’s mayor.

After taking the oath of office, Mamdani’s first act as the city’s chief executive was to pay the $9 fee to the City Clerk for filing a signed copy of his oath of office — a rite of passage for every new mayor of the Big Apple.

Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as mayor of New York City at Old City Hall Station, New York, U.S., Thursday, Jan 1st 2026.Amir Hamja/Pool via REUTERS

The historic Qur’an borrowed from Harlem’s Schomburg Center that Mayor Zohran Mamdani used to take the oath of office on Thursday in becoming New York City’s new mayor.Jonathan Blanc/The New York Public Library.

Mamdani succeeds former Mayor Eric Adams, whose tenure at City Hall lasted four years. Adams’ final act as mayor came at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2025, when he pushed a button that sent the Times Square New Year’s ball on its minute-long downward journey to 2026.

Downtown, at the old City Hall station, the new mayor offered brief remarks after the midnight swearing-in ceremony, thanking New Yorkers for their support and wishing them a happy new year.

“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” said Mayor Mamdani.

The mayor then announced his first cabinet appointment officially as mayor, tapping Mike Flynn as the new commissioner of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Flynn previously served at the DOT between 2005 and 2014 in helping to plan out the agency’s pedestrian and bicycle programs. Most recently, he was part of TYLin and Sam Schwartz Consulting, a firm founded by Sam Schwartz, a former transportation commissioner himself.

“I can think of no better moment than to announce our new Department of Transportation commissioner than this,” Mamdani said, referencing the old City Hall subway station as the site for the swearing-in ceremony. “It is an honor to have Mike standing alongside me as we embark on an administration that will take seriously the responsibility and the opportunity we have to make this streetscape and the public transit system that we call home the envy of the world.”

Flynn praised the DOT staff and said he was ready to get to work fulfilling the Mamdani administration’s transportation agenda, which includes establishing a fare-free and fast bus system.

“I know firsthand that NYC DOT has some of the most passionate, committed and dedicated public servants in the country, if not the world,” Flynn said. “And they’re ready to think big and to deliver big on our ambitious agenda.”

Mamdani will take the oath of office again on the steps of City Hall this afternoon at 1 p.m. during a formal inauguration ceremony and block party, where thousands are expected to celebrate. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will administer the oath of office to Mayor Mamdani at the ceremony.

Two other citywide elected officials, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and new City Comptroller Mark Levine, will also be inaugurated at the Thursday afternoon affair.

Watch the midnight swearing-in ceremony below: