MAMDANI'S INAUGURATION New York, New Year, new mayor

Zohran Mamdani was a trailblazing candidate whom many in his city of 8 million -- some with hope, some with trepidation -- expect to be a disruptive New York mayor.

- REUTERS

The democratic socialist’s plans for his first day in office Thursday nod to his politics and priorities, without straying far from his predecessors with a sober official midnight oath-taking followed by a more celebratory ceremony in the afternoon.

New York law spells out that four-year mayoral terms start on the January 1 after elections. To avoid any ambiguity about who's in charge of America’s most populous city, it has become a tradition to hold a small midnight swearing-in.