At his inauguration ceremony Thursday afternoon, Zohran Mamdani’s first address as mayor of New York offered up a bold left-wing populist vision for the city, one that promised an unapologetic pursuit of new social services based on his democratic socialist principles.
“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,” Mamdani said. “For too long, we have turned to the private sector for greatness, while accepting mediocrity from those who serve the public.”
Mamdani emphasized a point he made throughout his campaign — that the government should be held to a high bar, and that he expects to apply exacting standards to his administration and his own policy results.
“I cannot blame anyone who has come to question the role of government, whose faith in democracy has been eroded by decades of apathy,” he said. “We will restore that 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.”
The new mayor promised to not back off of his pledges to enact sweeping social services, including delivering universal child care, and to pay for it by hiking taxes on the rich. That program would require, he said, refusing to answer to billionaires and oligarchs.
“This moment,” he said, “demands a new politics and a new approach to power.”
Mamdani’s speech emphasized solidarity with the multiethnic working class of New York: “I stand alongside countless more New Yorkers watching from cramped kitchens in Flushing and barbershops in East New York, from cell phones 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,” he said.
That commitment emanates from his political identity as a socialist — something he consciously drew attention to in his address. “I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” he said, evoking chants of “DSA” from the crowd, a reference to the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization which he is a member of and played a crucial role in helping him get elected. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical,” he added. At the same time, Mamdani repeatedly expressed his commitment to people in the city who never voted for him. “I promise you this, if you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor,” he said. “Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you.” Multiculturalism was a major theme in Mamdani’s address; he constantly laced his remarks with references to the countless ethnic enclaves that make up New York, and described Palestinian and Jewish New Yorkers as part of the city’s tapestry. “Where else could a Muslim kid like me grow up eating bagels and lox every Sunday?” he said. “That love will be our guide as we pursue our agenda.”
Zeeshan Aleem is a writer for MS NOW. Sign up for his newsletter. 
