Zohran Mamdani took office in the early hours of 2026 as mayor of New York, the largest city in the United States. The first Muslim in charge of this position maintains the tradition of organizing two ceremonies: a smaller, private one, and a larger, public one.
At midnight on January 1, the Democrat held the private event and took his first oath of office, presided over by Donald Trump foe and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The chosen location was a deactivated metro station located under City Hall headquarters.
Built in the early 20th century and ornately decorated, the station today is a marshalling yard for subway trains in a city where an estimated 95 percent of the more than 400 stations were opened before 1960. “It was a physical monument to a city that dared to be beautiful and build great things that transformed the lives of working people,” Mamdani said in a statement explaining the decision.
After the swearing-in, the current mayor highlighted the symbolism of the law at the station, saying rail transportation will be a major concern of his administration.
This is the first time a New York mayor has taken the oath of office using a Quran during his speech. The Democrat used his grandfather’s Koran and another belonging to Arturo Schomburg, a black writer and historian, the latter having been loaned to the mayor by the New York Public Library.
The display of the Quran once owned by Schomburg, an Afro-Latino writer whose work and collections shaped the Harlem Renaissance, allows Mamdani to showcase the city’s distinctive mix of religions and racial and ethnic backgrounds.
“It’s a highly symbolic choice, because we are about to have a Muslim mayor who takes office thanks to the Koran, but also a mayor born on the African continent, in Uganda,” said Hiba Abid, the library’s curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. She helped Mamdani’s team select a Quran for his inauguration. “It really brings together elements of faith and identity and New York history here.”
The new mayor must still take a second oath during the ceremony open to the public, scheduled for 3 p.m. Brasilia time, just before a party that will close seven blocks of Broadway. In this second moment, Senator Bernie Sanders, also a socialist, will be responsible for reading the oath.
About The Author
