Telegraph: Zohran Mamdani becomes first New York mayor sworn in using Koran
Democratic socialist holds ceremony in disused gilded age subway station in a nod to workers who keep the modern city running
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/01/01/zohran-mamdani-sworn-in-new-york-mayor/
Zohran Mamdani becomes first New York mayor sworn in using Koran
Democratic socialist holds ceremony in disused gilded age subway station in a nod to workers who keep the modern city running
Rob Crilly Chief US Correspondent
01 January 2026 5:15am GMT
Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s first Muslim mayor with his hand on a Koran as the clock ticked past midnight on Thursday night.
The ceremony was laden with symbolism.
As well as using Islam’s holiest book, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist chose a disused gilded age subway station at Old City Hall as the setting to symbolise the city’s ability to think big and as a nod to the workers who keep modern New York running.
“When Old City Hall Station first opened in 1904 — one of New York’s 28 original subway stations — it was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working peoples’ lives,” Mr Mamdani said ahead of the ceremony.
The station was closed in 1945, its tiled arches, chandeliers and vaulted ceilings seen only by a handful of visitors each year.
New York law requires that a new mayor take over on Jan 1. It has become traditional to take the oath of office at midnight, before a bigger celebration later in the day.
He will use three Korans throughout the day, including his grandfather’s for the midnight ceremony, according to the New York Times.
It represents the end of an extraordinary journey for the 34-year-old politician. He upended the Democratic Party to win its nomination before overcoming a lack of name recognition to win the election in November with a populist manifesto that focused on affordability.
He campaigned to create universal child care, make public buses free and to freeze rents on a million apartments.
His radical programme helped inspire a record-breaking turnout of more than two million voters. And his supporters propelled him to a 10-point victory over Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic state governor running as an independent, and well ahead of Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate.
Many in his city of eight million people now hope he will govern as a disruptive mayor, taking on the entrenched interests that have sent costs spiralling.
Bankers and other high rollers in New York had raised concerns that his radical policies would force money away from the nation’s financial capital but have since begun trying to find common ground.
Mr Mamdani showed his conciliatory side in November during a cordial meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. While on the campaign trail, he had described the president as a “dictator” and a “fascist” but in person the two leaders agreed to work together to make New York affordable.
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I wonder which versions of the three Korans he is using. Perhaps Hellish could send him some of his books!
The swearing on the Quran is so telling. A horrible, violent book. He believes its tenets. New York doesn't care for subtleties of thought. It is a brutal, aggressive, arrogant city. Always was .His success is as arbitrary as so many American successes. It's a " made in America" system . In his case, very specifically, the list is short: he promised free stuff; he had a wounded , unimpressive opponent, an idiotic Republican candidate who refused to fold, he spit on Trump, and immigrant New Yorkers love his Jew and Israel hatred. The Jews that voted for him are a disgrace.
Eventually, taxing the wealthy will end him. Really, Zohran?