In a time when cynicism is easy and cruelty often masquerades as policy, what a rare and necessary thing it is to hear a public voice speak not from fear or division, but from hope. Not the hollow kind that promises comfort without change, but a hope forged in solidarity—a belief that there is, truly, enough for all of us.
Mamdani’s inaugural speech yesterday wasn’t just about New York. It was about a radical, ancient American idea: that dignity, safety, and joy should not be luxuries for the few, but the birthright of all. That our city—and by extension our country—should belong not to corporations or the connected, but to everyone who lives in it. Regardless of origin, faith, income, or politics.
That vision is not new. It echoes through the language of the Freedom Charter, the chants of labor movements, and the dreams whispered across generations. But it is rarely spoken so plainly by someone with power.
This speech matters because it doesn’t shrink the dream. It expands it.
And if America is to be anything worth believing in again, it will sound like this.
Here is the complete speech, without interruption.
Inaugural Address of Mayor Zohran Mamdani
January 1, 2026
My fellow New Yorkers: Today begins a new era.
I stand before you moved by the privilege of taking this sacred oath, humbled by the faith that you have placed in me, and honored to serve as either your 111th or 112th Mayor of New York City. But I do not stand alone.
I stand alongside you, the tens of thousands gathered here in Lower Manhattan, warmed against the January chill by the resurgent flame of hope. I stand alongside countless more New Yorkers watching from cramped kitchens in Flushing and barbershops in East New York, from cellphones propped against the dashboards of parked taxi cabs at LaGuardia, from hospitals in Mott Haven and libraries in El Barrio that have too long known only neglect.
I stand alongside construction workers in steel-toed boots and halal cart vendors whose knees ache from working all day. I stand alongside neighbors who carry a plate of food to the elderly couple down the hall, those in a rush who still lift strangers’ strollers up subway stairs, and every person who makes the choice day after day, even when it feels impossible, to call our city home.
I stand alongside over one million New Yorkers who voted for this day nearly two months ago—and I stand just as resolutely alongside those who did not. I know there are some who view this administration with distrust or disdain, or who see politics as permanently broken. And while only action can change minds, I promise you this: If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor. Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you.
Acknowledgments
I thank the labor and movement leaders here today, the activists and elected officials who will return to fighting for New Yorkers the second this ceremony concludes, and the performers who have gifted us with their talent.
Thank you to Governor Hochul for joining us. And thank you to Mayor Adams—Dorothy’s son, a son of Brownsville who rose from washing dishes to the highest position in our city—for being here as well. He and I have had our share of disagreements, but I will always be touched that he chose me as the mayoral candidate that he would most want to be trapped with on an elevator.
Thank you to the two titans who, as an Assembly member, I’ve had the privilege of being represented by in Congress: Nydia Velázquez and our incredible opening speaker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. You have paved the way for this moment.
Thank you to the man whose leadership I seek most to emulate, who I am so grateful to be sworn in by today, Senator Bernie Sanders.
Thank you to my teams: from the Assembly, to the campaign, to the transition and, now, the team I am so excited to lead from City Hall. Thank you to my parents, Mama and Baba, for raising me, for teaching me how to be in this world, and for having brought me to this city. Thank you to my family, from Kampala to Delhi. And thank you to my wife, Rama, for being my best friend, and for always showing me the beauty in everyday things.
Most of all, thank you to the people of New York.
The Reset of Expectations
A moment like this comes rarely. Seldom do we hold such an opportunity to transform and reinvent. Rarer still is it the people themselves whose hands are the ones upon the levers of change. And yet we know that too often in our past, moments of great possibility have been promptly surrendered to small imagination and smaller ambition.
In writing this address, I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.
Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audiaciously. We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try. To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives.
For too long, we have turned to the private sector for greatness, while accepting mediocrity from those who serve the public. We will restore trust by walking a different path: one where government is no longer solely the final recourse for those struggling, one where excellence is no longer the exception.
Who Does New York Belong To?
As we embark upon this work, let us advance a new answer to the question asked of every generation: Who does New York belong to?
For much of our history, the response from City Hall has been simple: It belongs only to the wealthy and well-connected. Working people have reckoned with the consequences: crowded classrooms, broken elevators in public housing, roads littered with potholes, and wages that do not rise.
And still, there have been brief, fleeting moments where the equation changed:
Twelve years ago, Bill de Blasio promised to end economic and social inequalities.
In 1990, David Dinkins vowed to celebrate the “gorgeous mosaic.”
Nearly six decades before him, Fiorello La Guardia took office to build a city for the hungry and the poor.
My administration will resurrect that legacy. City Hall will deliver an agenda of safety, affordability, and abundance. New York “belongs to all who live in it.”
A Tale of Eight and a Half Million Cities
Together, we will tell a new story of our city. This will not be a tale of one city, governed only by the one percent. Nor will it be a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor. It will be a tale of eight and a half million cities, each of them a New Yorker with hopes and fears, each a universe, each of them woven together.
The authors of this story will speak Pashto and Mandarin, Yiddish and Creole. They will be Russian Jewish immigrants in Brighton Beach, Italians in Rossville, and Irish families in Woodhaven. They will be Palestinian New Yorkers in Bay Ridge, who will no longer have to contend with a politics that makes them the exception.
We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.
The Mandate for Change
It will be New Yorkers who reform a long-broken property tax system. New Yorkers who will create a new Department of Community Safety to tackle the mental health crisis. New Yorkers who will take on bad landlords and free small business owners from bloated bureaucracy.
When we won the primary last June, many said these aspirations came out of nowhere. Yet one man’s nowhere is another man’s somewhere. This movement came out of eight and a half million somewheres—taxi cab depots and Amazon warehouses, DSA meetings and curbside domino games.
A Personal Love for the City
No matter how long you have called this city home, that love has shaped your life. I know that it has shaped mine.
This is the city where I set land-speed records on my Razor scooter at age 12.
The city where I played cricket at Ferry Point Park and took the 1 train to Bronx Science.
The city where I have gone on hunger strike just outside these gates and waited in quiet terror for my father to emerge from 26 Federal Plaza.
The city where I took Rama to McCarren Park on our first date and swore an oath to become an American citizen.
That love will be our guide. We will return the vast resources of this city to the workers who call it home.
We will deliver universal child care by taxing the wealthiest few.
We will freeze the rent for those in rent-stabilized homes.
We will make buses fast and free.
These policies are not simply about the costs we make free, but the lives we fill with freedom.
Conclusion: The Work Begins
I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical. As Senator Sanders said, “What’s radical is a system which gives so much to so few and denies so many people the basic necessities of life.”
In the words of Jadakiss, we will be “outside”—because this is a government of New York, by New York, and for New York.
I ask you to stand with us now. The movement did not end with our election. It lives on with every battle we will fight together. There are many watching to see if the left can govern. They want to know if it is right to hope again.
Standing together with the wind of purpose at our backs, we will do something that New Yorkers do better than anyone else: We will set an example for the world.
The work continues, the work endures, the work, my friends, has only just begun.
Thank you.