Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City mayor in the first minutes of the new year at the historic, decommissioned City Hall subway station, with his wife, Rama Duwaji, standing by his side.
The oath, in which he pledged to support the US constitution and the laws of New York, was administered by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of the US’ biggest city, placing his hand on a Koran as he took his oath.
Photo: Reuters
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.
In his first remarks as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new transportation department commissioner, Mike Flynn.
“Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.
Mamdani was to be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1pm by US Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes.
Mamdani was a trailblazing candidate and is expected by many in the city of 8 million — some with hope, some with trepidation — to be a disruptive mayor.
In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free childcare, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.
However, he would also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.
Syracuse University political science professor Grant Reeher said that James’ role in the inauguration would send a message to core supporters that Mamdani is “going to be independent of the [US] president.”
James had led an investigation in US President Donald Trump’s business practices during Trump’s first term.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS