In the biggest city in the United States, Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim and the youngest person in history, took the oath of office.
As he took his oath, Mamdani, a Democrat, sworn in at a former, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan just after midnight on Thursday. He read the Quran as he took his oath.
“This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.
The old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops, was the site of the ceremony, which was led by political ally Letitia James, the attorney general of New York.
US Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, will sworn in at 1 p.m. (18:00 GMT) at a ceremony in a grander fashion at City Hall. Following that, a public block party on the “Canyon of Heroes” stretch of Broadway, known for its ticker-tape parades, will take place under the new administration’s purview.
As one of the most popular politicians in the US, Mamdani now has one of the most unrelenting positions in the political system.
Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor and the first of its kind to be born in Africa, in addition to having its first mayor of South Asian descent. Mamdani, 34, is the city’s youngest mayor in recent memory.
The democratic socialist campaigned to bring transformative change to one of the world’s most expensive cities by making “affordability” a political buzzword.
His plan included a pilot program of city-run grocery stores, free childcare, free buses, and a rent freeze for roughly 1 million households.
He will also have to deal with other obligations, such as handling trash, rats, and snow, as well as being held accountable for potholes and subway delays.
Trump-related tensions
Additionally, Mamdani will have to deal with Donald Trump, a Republican.
Trump questioned whether Mamdani should be deported while campaigning for mayor, threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won.
In a social media post, he also described Mamdani as a “100% Communist Lunatic.”
Trump’s invitation to the Democrat to the White House for what turned out to be a cordial meeting in November surprised both his supporters and his foes.
Trump stated at the meeting that “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job.” As the pair addressed reporters, the US president even came to Mamdani’s aid.
The president intervened when a journalist inquired whether Mamdani still believed in Trump as a fascist.
You can simply say, “That’s fine. Trump explained to Mamdani that that is simpler. It’s simpler than explaining it, he said. I don’t mind”.
The two still have a lot of tension.
Mamdani continued to hold his position of fascist after the meeting.
According to Mamdani, “That’s something I’ve said in the past, I say it today.”
Mamdani, the son of academic and author Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair, was born in Kampala, Uganda. When Mamdani was 7 years old, his family moved to New York City, where Muslims were not always accepted. In 2018, he became a citizen of the United States.
Before he ran for office as a candidate for the city’s Democratic Party, he won a seat in the state assembly in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.
Mamdani’s mayoral campaign launched late last year with little recognition for his name.
However, he quickly rose to the top of the polls with a campaign message that aimed to lower living costs.
Source: Aljazeera
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