Zohran Mamdani, the young upstart of the US left, was sworn in Thursday to take over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.
After the clocks struck midnight, bringing in 2026, Mamdani took his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop to begin managing the United States’ largest city. He is New York’s first Muslim mayor. His office said the understated venue beneath City Hall reflected his commitment to working people, after the 34-year-old Democrat campaigned on promises to address the soaring cost of living.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani told reporters after taking his oath.
But it remains to be seen if Mamdani — virtually unknown a year ago — can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses. Once an election is over, “symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more,” New York University lecturer John Kane said.
How Trump behaves could be a decisive factor. The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.
Lincoln Mitchell, a political analyst and professor at Columbia University, said the meeting “couldn’t have gone better from Mamdani’s perspective.” But he warned their relationship could quickly sour. One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States. Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.
Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic.”