View from the crowd: 'You get to witness history'

In the days before the Democratic primary in June, Lindita Kulla, of Bushwick, Brooklyn, knocked on doors and campaigned for the new mayor despite broiling heat and suffocating humidity.

On Thursday, she braved freezing cold to see the mayor she helped get elected.

“I am here today because it's not every day that you get to witness history and a new hope for a better tomorrow. Yeah. And I was out till 5 a.m. last night for the new year,” she said.

Kulla said she thinks Mamdani will be a successful mayor because of his intelligence and willingness to talk to people regardless of their politics. That helped him win over voters who supported President Donald Trump in 2024. “Middle class individuals need help," she said.

Guests of Mamdani’s — including the co-head of his transition committee, Lina Khan, who was Biden's trustbusting FTC head; and Mahmoud Khalil, whom the Trump administration had arrested and is trying to deport over his anti-Israel activism — were escorted to the front of the long lines before the metal detectors.