Mamdani vows to ‘govern as a democratic socialist’ in inaugural speech

A year ago, Zohran Mamdani was a backbench state assemblyman who had just launched a bid for New York City mayor that many saw as a long shot because of his unabashed left-wing politics.

But on Thursday afternoon, Mamdani was inaugurated as the city’s 112th mayor with a vow to “govern as a democratic socialist,” a sign that he sees his upset election victory as a mandate for his leftist affordability agenda, which has resonated with New Yorkers reeling from skyrocketing costs of living.

“We will govern without shame and insecurity, making no apology for what we believe. I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani, who at 34 is the city’s youngest mayor in over a century, said in an inaugural address on the steps of City Hall to thunderous applause from thousands of supporters. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”

Mamdani, who’s also the city’s first Muslim mayor, delivered his speech after taking the oath office on a Quran held by his wife, graphic artist Rama Duwaji. The oath was administered by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who, like Mamdani, is a democratic socialist and is seen as a grandfather for the modern American left.

“All of us have heard that Zohran’s opponents have called the agenda that he campaigned on ‘radical, communistic,’ oh, and ‘absolutely unachievable’ — really?” Sanders said before administering the oath. “That’s not what we believe.”

Thursday’s public ceremony came after Mamdani officially was sworn in as mayor at midnight Wednesday during a private ceremony with his family.

Having promised to make the city more affordable for working-class communities, Mamdani is entering office with high expectations on his shoulders.

His mayoral campaign centered on three key promises: freeze rents for the city’s 2 million rent-stabilized tenants, make public buses free, and drastically expand fully subsidized childcare so it covers every child in the city between 6 weeks and 5 years old.

Each of those pledges comes with its own set of serious challenges.

The bus and childcare proposals are contingent on billions of dollars in new funding Mamdani wants to allocate from tax increases — which would need to be enacted by the state — on millionaires and corporations. Gov. Hochul, a more moderate Democrat, who was seated on the dais behind Mamdani as he delivered his speech, has openly voiced skepticism about raising taxes this year, throwing a potential wrench into Mamdani’s core agenda.

Mamdani also faces myriad other challenges, including overseeing the NYPD after spending a large chunk of his political career being a prominent critic of the department.

But in his inaugural speech, Mamdani reaffirmed he remains committed to all of his agenda items, including taxing millionaires at a higher rate, and vowed not to water down his messaging or promises.

“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,” he said. “The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.”

During Sanders’ speech, the inaugural ceremony crowd, which featured dozens of Mamdani supporters donning red Democratic Socialists of America beanies, erupted in a “Tax the rich!” chant.

Thousands more Mamdani supporters who crammed the streets around City Hall for an event his team billed a “block party” joined in on the same chant.

“We’ve got your back, we’ll move those establishment politicians, we’ll tax the corporations, we’ll get it done,” said Paul Nagle, a 67-year-old Chelsea resident who braced Thursday’s freezing temperatures to attend the block party.

Hochul declined to take questions after the event.

Asked how Hochul can be convinced to back Mamdani’s taxation agenda, Sanders told the Daily News after the ceremony that continued public pressure is key: “I hope she’s heard from the people here and the people all over this country,” he said. “It is the right thing to do, and it is what the people want.”

Besides Hochul, Mamdani’s inaugural ceremony dais was a veritable who’s who of New York politics, featuring U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio and several members of Congress, as well as key advisers to Mamdani, including his chief of staff Elle Bisgaard Church and first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose upset 2018 election to Congress was a harbinger of sorts for Mamdani’s defeat of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic mayoral primary, delivered the introductory speech at the inauguration. She suggested Mamdani’s election should serve as an inspiration for more left-wing electoral campaigns across the country.

“If we can make it here, we can make it anywhere,” she said.

Eric Adams, whose first and only mayoral term came to a close at midnight Wednesday, was also on the dais.

Having dumped his bid for reelection this fall under a cloud of controversy related to his federal corruption indictment, Adams was a thorn in Mamdani’s side on his way out of public service, taking a number of actions in the past few weeks directly aimed at stymieing the new mayor’s agenda.

Among other actions, Adams made last-minute appointments to the Rent Guidelines Board in an effort to at least temporarily block Mamdani’s promised rent freeze for stabilized tenants.

Despite the tensions, Mamdani offered Adams thanks during his inaugural speech, drawing boos from the crowd.

“He and I have had our share of disagreements, but I will always be touched that he chose me as the mayoral candidate that he would most want to be trapped with on an elevator,” Mamdani said, prompting Adams to chuckle.

Adams otherwise sat stone-faced throughout the ceremony and did not applaud once during it. He left the event without taking questions from reporters.