Zohran Mamdani Sworn In As NYC Mayor — Ambitious Affordability Agenda and New Community Safety Plan

Zohran Mamdani was sworn in at midnight as New York City’s 111th mayor, becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor and the first Democrat to enter office with formal democratic-socialist credentials. The 34-year-old took the oath from State Attorney General Letitia James in an out-of-service subway station beneath City Hall that serves as a turnaround for the 5 train. A historic public block party along Broadway’s "Canyon of Heroes" followed his inauguration.

Speaking from a broad subway staircase, Mamdani said, "I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow as we begin our term. This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime." He has described his campaign as run "in poetry" and pledged to govern "in prose," signaling an idealistic vision tempered by promises of practical policymaking.

Top Priorities

Mamdani and his transition team have named more than 400 New Yorkers as advisers on personnel and policy, with affordability — framed as an "economic rights" agenda — the overriding theme. Key elements of his plan include:

• Housing: A pledge to build 200,000 permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes over the next decade and to crack down on negligent landlords. The campaign also called for freezing rent increases, while acknowledging the mayor does not directly control the Rent Guidelines Board.
• Childcare and Education: Free childcare for every New Yorker from six weeks to five years old, distribution of essential newborn supplies to new mothers, and expanded K–12 funding and services.
• Transport and Living Costs: Plans to eliminate fares on city buses, expand bus lanes to speed service, and create municipal grocery stores in city-owned buildings selling at wholesale prices to reduce food costs.
• Community Safety: Creation of a Department of Community Safety to take a public-health approach to violence prevention, including sending civilian mental-health responders to many crises instead of police.
• Immigration and Legal Aid: Strengthening sanctuary-city protections, removing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from city facilities, ending ICE cooperation, and expanding immigration legal services for an estimated 400,000 New Yorkers at deportation risk.

Cost And Funding

Mamdani estimates the package will cost about $10 billion a year. To finance it, he proposes raising the top corporate tax rate from 7.25% to 11.5% (projected to generate roughly $5 billion annually) and increasing personal taxes on the top 1% of earners — about 34,000 households making over $1 million — by 2% (projected to raise about $4 billion). He also intends to push for a city law to raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.

The administration acknowledges legal and political constraints: many proposals would require state approval or cooperation from independent boards such as the Rent Guidelines Board, meaning implementation will demand negotiation with Albany and other stakeholders.

Appointments And Immediate Moves

At his inauguration, Mamdani appointed veteran city planner Mike Flynn as the city’s new transportation secretary, signaling an early emphasis on transit and street-level mobility reforms. His team emphasizes pairing ambitious goals with technocratic implementation, while preparing for political pushback.

What To Watch

Watch for early negotiations with the state government on tax and spending authority, the Rent Guidelines Board on rent policy, implementation details for a fare-free bus system, the rollout of municipal grocery stores, and the initial staffing and rules for the new Department of Community Safety.

Bottom line: Mamdani arrives in City Hall with a bold, progressive agenda focused on affordability and public-health approaches to safety. Turning campaign promises into durable policy will hinge on legal constraints, budget deals, and political compromise.