Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Monday he plans to move into Gracie Mansion, the New York City mayor’s traditional official residence, upon inauguration in January.
“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” Mamdani said in a statement.
The mayor-elect had dodged the question since his election despite saying previously that he planned to move into the Upper East Side digs.
He and his wife, Rama Duwaji, currently live in a rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment in Astoria.
The move will mark a big lifestyle shift for the future mayor and his wife — instead of cramped quarters and plumbing issues in his Queens one-bedroom, Mamdani will now have 11,000 square feet, a lawn with sweeping views of the East River and kitchen staff at his disposal.
Almost all New York City mayors have lived at Gracie Mansion, with the exception of Mayor Bloomberg, who instead opted to continue living at his nearby townhouse.
Other past mayors, like Fiorello LaGuardia, had voiced concerns about the optics of living in an opulent mansion whilst representing working people — a balance Mamdani nodded to in his announcement.
“My priority, always, is serving the people who call this city home,” he said. “I will be a mayor for the line cooks on Steinway, for the children swinging at Dutch Kills Playground, for the bus riders waiting for the Q101. While I may no longer live in Astoria, Astoria will always live inside me and the work I do.”
