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Mamdani refuses to reset expectations, pledging to govern “expansively and audaciously”.
We may not always succeed but we will never be accused of lacking the courage to try.
He also pays tribute to Bernie Sanders, calling him the man whose leadership he seeks most to emulate.
Mamdani also pays tribute to AOC, telling her: “You have paved the way for this moment.”
He graciously thanks his predecessor, Eric Adams, (whose name prompts boos from the crowd), adding:
I will always be touched that he chose me as the mayoral candidate that he would most want to be trapped with in an elevator.
Addressing those who didn’t vote for him, those who view him with “distrust and disdain”, and those who have lost faith in politics, he says:
While only action can change minds, I promise you this: if you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor.
Updated at 14.58 EST
He jokes that he is honored to serve as either the 111th or 112th mayor of New York City (after it emerged that the city may have been counting wrong for decades).
Mamdani takes the stage, declaring:
My fellow New Yorkers, today begins a new era.
ShareMamdani is publicly sworn in by Bernie Sanders
The crowd chants “Zohran, Zohran, Zohran” as their new mayor puts his hand on his grandmother’s Qur’an to take his oath.
Zohran Mamdani, his wife Rama Duwaji and US senator Bernie Sanders. Photograph: Kylie Cooper/ReutersMamdani and Sanders embrace before the new mayor delivers his inauguration address. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/ReutersShare
Updated at 14.55 EST
The billionaire class has to understand, Sanders says, that in America “they cannot have it all”. America, he says, “must belong to all of us not just the few.”
“That lesson begins today, in New York City,” he says.
Bernie Sanders delivers a speech during Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration ceremony. Photograph: Kylie Cooper/ReutersShare
And demanding that the wealthy and the corporations start paying their fair share of taxes, Sanders says, is not radical. “It is exactly the right thing to do,” he says.
The crowd bursts into “tax the rich”.
Progressive ideas like affordable housing, free childcare, free buses, and affordable good-quality food are not radical, says Sanders. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”
“Countries all over the world have done it for years,” he says.
Updated at 14.46 EST
Throughout the country and the world, people are “losing faith in democracy”, Sanders says. But Mamdani’s campaign inspired thousands of volunteers, he says.
When working people stand up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
Updated at 14.44 EST
As Bernie Sanders stands to pass the baton and swear in Mamdani, the crowd are on their feet once again, applauding and chanting “Bernie”.
Updated at 14.37 EST
Lucy Dacus then performs “Bread & Roses”.
Breaking into tears, Williams tells his younger self and the visibly emotional crowd:
Little black boy, you are worth it, and you always were. And without any titles, you were enough. You were always enough. And you deserve to accept love and you deserve to be protected. And I’m honored to be here to help create a city that’s worthy of that for you. And I’m so proud of you.
The crowd breaks into applause and gives Williams a standing ovation, joining him in saying: “We gon’ be alright.”
Updated at 14.34 EST
“The reason so many New Yorkers have too little is not because of people who have even less or who have been here for less time, not because of those pushed to the bottom, but because of the systems entrenched at the top,” he says. “That’s where we should focus our anger and our actions.”
Updated at 14.27 EST