Saying that "Today begins a new era," Mayor Zohran Mamdani assured New Yorkers on Thursday that he will use the power of government to serve all of them, regardless of their political views. "I promise you this," Mamdani said after taking the oath in a public ceremony outside City Hall, hours after being sworn in privately, per the New York Times. "If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor. Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, I will celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you." After reassuring business leaders since his election, Mamdani said he will not back away the positions that put him in office. "I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist," he said.
Mamdani, 34, a former New York State Assembly member from Queens, campaigned on an aggressively pro-affordability agenda, per the Washington Post. He has pledged to freeze rents on nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, make city buses free and faster, and establish universal child care, funded in part by higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy, including billionaires who opposed his candidacy. Many of those proposals would require approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature. "We will govern expansively and audaciously," Mamdani told the crowd, adding, "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."
The inauguration underscored Mamdani's alignment with the Democratic Party's left flank. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York joined him at City Hall, with Sanders dismissing criticism that in "the richest country in the history of the world," Mamdani's housing agenda is radical. When Sanders called for raising taxes on the rich and large corporations, sections of the crowd of several thousand responded with "Tax the rich!" chants.
- The Times posted a transcript of Mamdani's speech here.
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