Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened his administration Thursday with an express pledge to control the nation’s largest metropolis as a democratic socialist, saying he wouldn’t soften his politics as he ushered within the “new era.”
“I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani stated in his inaugural tackle on New 12 months’s Day earlier than a crowd of hundreds gathered at Metropolis Corridor and at a block occasion down the Canyon of Heroes.
The declaration, made on the steps of Metropolis Corridor, set the tone for a speech that framed his mayoralty as a take a look at of whether or not a left-wing authorities can ship for working individuals whereas confronting company energy and financial inequality.
“No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives,” he stated, arguing that a long time of deference to the personal sector had eroded belief in authorities.
He rejected recommendation to decrease expectations on the outset of his time period. “The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations,” Mamdani stated. “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously.”
Mamdani publicly commits to his marketing campaign guarantees as mayor
NYC’s new first couple: Mayor Zohran Mamdani (r.) with First Woman Rama Duwaji.Picture by Dean Moses 
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
All through the tackle, Mamdani returned to the query of who the town’s authorities serves. “Who does New York belong to?” he requested, answering later: “New York belongs to all who live in it, together.”
He outlined priorities that he stated mirror that dedication, together with common baby care funded by taxing the wealthiest residents, freezing rents for tenants in rent-stabilized flats, and making metropolis buses “fast and free.” He stated these insurance policies had been about increasing freedom in a metropolis the place, he argued, alternative has too usually relied on earnings.
“For too long in our city, freedom has belonged only to those who can afford to buy it,” Mamdani stated.
The brand new mayor acknowledged skepticism from New Yorkers who opposed him, saying his administration would serve your complete metropolis. “If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor,” he stated, including that solely motion would change minds.
Mamdani framed the second as one being intently watched past New York. “They want to know if the left can govern,” he stated. “They want to know if it is right to hope again.”
He urged supporters to stay engaged past the election, saying governing would require sustained public strain and participation. “City Hall will not be able to deliver on our own,” Mamdani stated.
As he concluded, Mamdani forged the beginning of his time period as the start of an extended battle fairly than a victory lap.
“The work continues,” he stated. “The work endures. The work, my friends, has only just begun.”
‘Radical agenda’
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who administered the oath of workplace, praised Mamdani’s election as a watershed second for grassroots politics and dealing individuals, calling it “the biggest political upset in modern American history.”
Sanders thanked New Yorkers for what he described as a volunteer-driven marketing campaign that challenged entrenched political and financial energy.
“You took on the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the President of the United States, and some enormously wealthy oligarchs,” Sanders stated. “And you defeated them.”
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders swears in Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell 
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is sworn in by Vermont Senator Bernie SandersPhoto by Dean Moses
He framed the victory as a response to rising disillusionment with democracy in the USA and past. “At a moment when people in America — in fact, throughout the world — are losing faith in democracy,” Sanders stated, Mamdani’s election confirmed that “when working people stand together, when we don’t let them divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”
Sanders acknowledged that governing could be harder than campaigning, telling the group that whereas profitable the election was onerous, “governing a city of 8 million people with all of its complexities” could be tougher nonetheless.
He urged supporters to stay engaged, saying that “grassroots democracy and people participating in the day-to-day struggles of this city will lead to good governance.”
Addressing criticism of Mamdani’s agenda, Sanders rejected claims that the insurance policies had been radical. Making housing reasonably priced, offering free, high-quality baby care, providing free public transportation, and guaranteeing entry to reasonably priced meals, he stated, had been “not radical,” however “the right and decent thing to do.”
Sanders additionally known as for larger taxes on the rich and huge firms, saying it was unacceptable that billionaires and main firms pay little in taxes whereas hundreds of thousands dwell paycheck to paycheck. “That has got to end,” he stated.
Mayor for all
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opened the inauguration ceremony Thursday, framing the occasion as a collective second for the town’s residents and calling for better civic participation within the years forward.
She described the ceremony as an inauguration for all New Yorkers, saying the town had chosen “historic, ambitious leadership in response to unprecedented times.”“New York, we have chosen courage over fear,” she stated. “We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few.”
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-CortezPhoto by Dean Moses
Ocasio-Cortez highlighted coverage objectives she stated New Yorkers had embraced, together with “the ambitious pursuit of universal child care, affordable rents and housing and clean and dignified public transit for all,” whereas rejecting “the distractions of bigotry and the barbarism of extreme income inequality.”
Calling the second “an inauguration for all of us,” she urged residents to reengage in civic and neighborhood life, saying, “A city for all will require all of us to fill our streets, our schools, our houses of faith, our PTAs, and our block associations.”
She famous a number of historic firsts for the incoming mayor, saying he “will be the first Muslim mayor of our great city,” “our first immigrant mayor in over a century,” and “the youngest mayor of New York City in generations.”
“But most importantly,” she stated, “Zohran will be a mayor for all of us.”
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
