Zohran Mamdani showed New York City that he’s a different kind of leader in his inaugural address on Thursday, Jan. 1.
“My fellow New Yorkers,” Mamdani said at the beginning of his New Year’s Day address.“Today begins a new era.”
He also said that the crowd was “warmed against the January chill by the resurgent flame of hope.”
“The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations,” he said.
“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously,” he added. “We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try.”
Mamdani spoke to the crowd about the high standards he has for his administration.
“We expect greatness … from those who stride out onto Broadway stages. Let us demand the same from those who work in government.”
“I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical,” referencing Senator Bernie Sanders. The Senator from Vermont administered Mamdani’s public oath of office earlier in the day.
“What’s radical is a system which gives so much to so few. And denies so many people the basic necessities of life,” he continued.
“I was elected as a Democratic Socialist, and I will govern as a Democratic Socialist,” Mamdani said.
The new mayor of NYC even evoked the words of Jadakiss of the LOX during his speech.
Mamdani declared that no New Yorker should find themselves priced out of life’s basic necessities. We will, in the words of Jason Terrance Phillips, better known as Jadakiss or J to the Muah, be “outside.”
At the historic event, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered the opening remarks. New York State Attorney General Letitia James presided over the private midnight swearing-in. Also in attendance were Governor Kathy Hochul, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Comptroller-elect Mark Levine.
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