NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to host 'inauguration of a new era,' with Broadway block party

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is hosting a public block party Jan. 1 to celebrate his "inauguration of a new era," with expectations the Broadway viewing party will draw thousands to watch the first Muslim politician and youngest man in more than a century be sworn in as New York City's next chief executive.

As is tradition, Mamdani will be sworn in on the steps of City Hall before 4,000 ticketed guests. The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m.

The mayor-elect has invited thousands of others to attend the free public block party along Broadway's "Canyon of Heroes," with dedicated viewing areas. Anyone interested in attending is required to RSVP at transition2025.com/inauguration because of limited space.

"This inauguration is a celebration of the movement we built, the mandate we won, and the city we are prepared to lead," Mamdani wrote in a statement. "Working New Yorkers are at the heart of our agenda and we invite them to join us as we welcome this new era of politics to City Hall."

The inauguration comes on the heels of an amusing controversy about whether Mamdani would be the city’s 111th or 112th mayor. A historian spotted an oversight in the city’s record-keeping that undercounted Matthias Nicolls, who was the city’s sixth mayor from 1671 to 1672 and returned to office two years later.

"I’m excited to be whichever mayor," Mamdani told reporters.

Since the turn of the 20th century, when the five boroughs were officially created, the mayor’s inauguration has typically been held on the steps of City Hall. But current New York City Mayor Eric Adams was sworn in on New Year’s in 2022 at Times Square just after the ball dropped. He canceled an event originally-scheduled at King’s Theatre in Brooklyn amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus omicron variant, instead opting for an outdoor ceremony.

After the inauguration, Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will move into Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side from their one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens. Every New York City mayor since 1942 has lived in the residence in Carl Schurz Park at some point, except Michael Bloomberg.

"We will miss it all," Mamdani wrote in a statement earlier this month about leaving Astoria. "The endless Adeni chai, the spirited conversations in Spanish, Arabic and every language in between, the aromas of seafood and shawarma drifting down the block."

"This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for," he wrote.