Even as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani cast his administration as a government for all New Yorkers, the inauguration ceremony at City Hall on Thursday was limited to invited guests, while members of the public gathered nearby for a separate "block party" and viewed the proceedings on outdoor screens.
About 4,000 invited guests attended the inauguration in front of City Hall, including actors Mandy Patinkin, Cynthia Nixon, and John Turturro, along with politicians Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James, according to multiple media reports.
Thousands more watched the ceremony on a series of large outdoor screens at a block party that was open to the public. Mamdani supporters lined the Canyon of Heroes, a stretch of Broadway in lower Manhattan typically used for the city's famed ticker-tape parades.
The New York Post reported that some supporters complained about a lack of access to bathrooms and food concession stands.
"It's not exactly what I was expecting," Brooklyn resident Shane Turner, 30, told the Post. "I was expecting food and music."
A 25-year-old Queens woman told the Post: "I could've watched this from home."
Mamdani's transition website had stated that there would be no portable restrooms on Broadway because of security concerns and that no food would be for sale within the block party.
"Feel free to bring your own snacks, and some to share!" the website stated. "And don't worry, there are a lot of local markets, cafes and restaurants you can shop at in the area."
Simone Swartz, a veteran, attended the block party with her friends Dev Mehra and Bilal Mohammed, according to CNN. She was holding a pink teddy bear they had given her, outfitted in a Mamdani T-shirt. Mamdani, she said, was the first political candidate for whom she felt excited to vote.
"Mamdani has been the first politician that has actually supported actual American values: treating everybody with respect, freedom, and access to public services," she said.
The block party also drew some who were not Mamdani supporters. Sharon Jones, who described herself as a conservative Republican, told CNN she attended as part of her "civic duty as a New Yorker."
"Even though my political views are different, as a New Yorker, it's all about community," she said. "My neighbor is my neighbor regardless of what political affiliations they may have."
Mamdani was officially sworn in as New York's 112th mayor just after midnight in a private ceremony led by James at the Old City Hall subway station. He is the first openly socialist and Muslim to hold the office.
At 34, Mamdani is the city's youngest mayor in more than a century and the second-youngest in New York City history, behind Hugh Grant, who took office at age 30 in 1889.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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