And that concludes our live coverage of Zohran Mamdani’s historic inauguration. Thank you so much for reading along, and wishing you all a safe and healthy new year.
Zohran Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s closest-watched politicians whose platform promises free childcare, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1m households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.
But the estimated $10bn cost of providing those services may be hard to find. Mamdani has vowed to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and increase corporate taxes. But as a vassal city of the state government in Albany, he will need the legislative support of governor Kathy Hochul, who is running for re-election next year.
He’ll also have to deal with Donald Trump, who has labelled the new mayor a “communist” and threatened to withhold federal funding from the city. But a friendly meeting between the outer borough New Yorkers last month, where they bonded over building more housing in the city, surprised many expecting a political firework show.
“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.
