New year brings new NYC mayor

Socialist platform to be put to the test

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New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates alongside his wife Rama Duwaji during an election night event at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater on Nov 4 AFP

(AFP)

New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is set to become the US city’s first Muslim mayor, and the youthful optimism of his Democratic Socialist platform will be put to the test as he takes office Thursday for a four-year term that faces high expectations.

Just after the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, New York Attorney General Letitia James — friend to Mr Mamdani, foe to President Donald Trump — will swear in the new mayor. In a high-stakes tit-for-tat, Ms James recently sued Mr Trump, and he tried to have her indicted in return.

At midday, left-wing icon and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will preside over a ceremony outside City Hall. At a neighbourhood celebration, festivities will echo “one of his core messages... that this is a great city, and we like living here’; said Lincoln Mitchell, a Columbia University political science professor.