Weather below freezing has never stopped New Yorkers before, and on the first day of 2026, thousands withstood frigid temperatures to watch Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration, hours after he had been sworn in as mayor in a private ceremony at midnight.
Here are several takeaways from the event:
Political block party or chaotic music festival
The Mamdani transition team had set aside seven blocks of Broadway for an open event they called a block party. The official event was limited to 4,000 invited guests gathered before the steps of City Hall. The larger scale block party was meant to reflect the mass appeal of a campaign that had enlisted close to 100,000 volunteers. Epicenter reporters signed up as public attendees and received online invitations and a QR code for the event, which was projected to draw 40,000 people.
We made it in – after a struggle! Like other members of the media organizations, we could barely get through the waves of people decked out in Mamdani campaign swag. The crowds waiting to make it in backed up for blocks.
Security was also tight. There was heavy police presence along subway stops that had been closed down (along the 6 line) as well as the side streets. We were even patted down by officers.
Everyone we spoke to was excited to have the opportunity to take part in the event — from vendors selling Mamdani buttons to people from across the country and world who had braved the cold to catch a glimpse of the ceremony on a Jumbotron screen.
“I’m just hoping to see a change – a change in how politics is normally done,” said one Brooklyn resident who attended the rally. “I know it’s going to be a battle, because they’re not used to it. But with the people backing him, I’m hoping he will succeed.”
The who’s who
The speakers for the ceremony came from diverse backgrounds and carried with them some serious political “swagger.” After the national anthem, the event was opened by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Queens progressive whose own unexpected victory was seen as having paved the way for Mamdani’s.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont progressive Mamdani has cited as an inspiration, administered the oath of office for the new mayor after giving a rousing speech on what Mamdani’s victory means for the nation.
Both AOC and Sanders are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, a party Mamdani also belongs to. Together, they made up a display of the hopes the progressive movement have riding on the new mayor.
Sticking to Mamdani’s agenda
All of the speakers focused on the key issues in Mamdani’s campaign – the high cost of housing, transportation and childcare. Mamdani’s approach to his office was also reflected in the people he chose to speak and perform. Singer Mandy Patinkin led a chorus of fifth graders from Staten Island in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The invocation was delivered by Imam Khalid Latif, the executive director of the Islamic Center of New York City, flanked by a rabbi and a group of ministers. Singer Lucy Dacus performed the labor movement staple, “Bread and Roses.” Poet Cornelius Eady read verses he composed for the occasion, titled “Proof.”
In Mamdani’s inaugural address, he recognized and acknowledged the responsibility he now holds and his confidence that he and his administration have to transform their promises into a reality for New Yorkers.
Stating, “I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.”
Diversity shined
Mamdani celebrated the rich tapestry of New York City and the people who make it thrive. When he honored neighbors who feed the city, he referenced biriyani, beef patties, picaña, pastrami on rye, and sanchoco.
He named communities across the boroughs: Russian and Jewish immigrants in Brighton Beach, Palestinian New Yorkers in Bay Ridge, Italians in neighborhoods across the city, and voters from Fordham Road to Woodhaven who he said had voted for Donald Trump in 2024 and for him in the mayoral race. He pulled these strands together to remind all that New York belongs to everyone who calls it home.
The ceremony also reflected the city’s diverse faiths: Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was sworn in on a Bible, Comptroller Mark Levine on a Chumash and Mayor Mamdani on a Quran.
Mamdani himself is the city’s first Muslim, South Asian and African-born mayor. The new mayor used a Quran from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
He pledged that his victory would create new momentum for change built on solidarity between the whole of the city, not just the rich and the powerful few.
The view from Queens
Far from City Hall, on the corner of 101st Avenue and 111th Street, five Punjabi men and three young boys chatted while watching the inauguration ceremony on the flat-screen TV above the counter of the family business. Tony Singh, one of the co-owners of Bite & Go Corp., showed us a photo of his daughter at the block party in City Hall. He said that while “young people like [Mamdani],” he was reserving judgement until he saw what Mamdani would do in office.
His partner’s 17-year-old son, Manavjot Brar, who was also watching, said that his biggest wish is for Mamdani to lower the rent for middle-class and working families and for small businesses like theirs. Brar says his family opened the convenience store about a year ago without any outside support, and they could use Mamdani’s help to “decrease the lease” at a time when “in New York, there was too much the rent of the stores, of the houses, which the middle-class family [can’t] afford.”
Of course, not everyone was caught up in the excitement. In South Richmond Hill, Queens, where Mamdani won the mayoral election by a margin of 23 points, multiple neighbors we spoke with had no idea Mamdani was being inaugurated today. Some said they simply were not following politics. It may be a sign of what some longtime residents and civic advocates have linked to local politicians’ historical lack of engagement with the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities in this and nearby neighborhoods — and their subsequent mistrust of politics, especially for immigrants coming from politically unstable environments in their home countries.
When asked what Mamdani’s focus should be on his first 100 days in office, several told us they hoped he would tackle homelessness, the cost of living and address the overdose crisis on their streets.
With contributions from Carolina Valencia and John O’Neil.
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