Mamdani promises to govern 'expansively and audaciously'

Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city's striving, struggling working class.

- 

Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city's first Muslim mayor.

After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani returned to City Hall in a cab around midday on Thursday for a grander public inauguration where US Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor's political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.

"Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try," Mamdani told a cheering crowd.

"To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers' lives," he said.

Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes," famous for its ticker-tape parades. Mamdani wasted little time getting to work after the event.