New York City prepares for Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration – live

Happy new year! In the wee hours of 2026, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as the new mayor of New York City in a private ceremony in the abandoned beaux-arts subway station under city hall.

Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as mayor of New York City at the old city hall station. Photograph: Amir Hamja/Reuters

The democratic socialist, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, surrounded by wife, Rama Duwaji, members of his immediate family, including Mira Nair, his mother and a film-maker, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African studies at Columbia University.

And Mamdani, who becomes the city’s first ever Muslim mayor, was sworn in with his grandfather’s Qur’an. He told those present:

This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime. I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow as we begin our term. After just having taken my oath to become the mayor of the city of New York, I do so also here in the old city hall subway station – a testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health, the legacy of our city.

The midnight ceremony will be followed by a 1pm public event at city hall during which the new mayor will be introduced by fellow progressives Bronx Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and sworn in by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.

We’ll be covering all that here, so stay tuned.