Virendra Pandit
New Delhi:US President Donald Trump’s bete noire Zohran Mamdani, 34, was sworn-in as New York City’s first Muslim Mayor in 250 years at a historic decommissioned subway station at City Hall, Manhattan, the media reported on Thursday.
New York Attorney-General Letitia James, his political ally, administered the oath of office to the Mayor-elect. Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.
After his election, President Trump, who had gone hammer-and-tongs against Mamdani, met the new Mayor-elect on November 21 in a cordial meeting at the White House.
The Mamdani oath ceremony took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subways stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.
He will be sworn-in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 pm on Thursday by US Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the new mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.
Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.
Mamdani is not only New York City’s first Muslim Mayor, he is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, he is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.
In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, he promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His promises included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.
But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes, the reports said.
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of Indian-origin filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.
He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.
Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.
He inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.
Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.
He’ll also have to deal with the unpredictable Republican President, Donald Trump. During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.
But the President surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting on November 21.
“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.
Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.
Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.
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