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Zohran Mamdani takes oath on centuries-old Quran in abandoned subway, makes NYC history
Zohran Mamdani takes oath on centuries-old Quran in abandoned subway, makes NYC history
Zohran Mamdani, New York City's first Muslim mayor, used two family Qurans and one that belonged to the writer Arturo Schomburg at his two swearing-in ceremonies.
Zohran Mamdani officially took office as mayor after the New Year's Eve ball drop, in a private ceremony held at a shuttered relic of the city's subway. A millennial, South Asian and Muslim leader, Mamdani became the city's first Muslim mayor—and the first to swear his oath of office on the Quran.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.
The inauguration will unfold in two distinct ceremonies, blending symbolism, faith and the city's layered history. A private midnight swearing-in will take place in a disused subway station beneath City Hall, followed later in the day by a public ceremony on the steps of City Hall.
During both ceremonies, Zohran Mamdani will place his hand on the Quran, Islam's holiest text, making him the first mayor in New York City to do so. According to senior adviser Zara Rahim, he is expected to use at least three different Qurans across the ceremonies.
For the private swearing-in early Thursday, Mamdani will use his grandfather's Quran and another that once belonged to Arturo Schomburg, the Black Afro-Latino intellectual whose work helped shape the Harlem Renaissance. The Schomburg Quran has been loaned by the New York Public Library. For the public ceremony, Mamdani will use Qurans that belonged to both his grandfather and grandmother.
The inclusion of Schomburg's Quran is deeply symbolic. Though Schomburg was not Muslim, he collected the text as part of his lifelong effort to document the full scope of Black cultural, artistic and religious life.
“It's a highly symbolic choice because we're about to have a Muslim mayor swearing in using the Quran but also a mayor who was born on the African continent, in Uganda,” said Hiba Abid, curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the library. “It really brings together here elements of faith, identity and New York history.”
The Schomburg Quran, acquired from Ottoman Syria and designed for everyday use, will go on public display for the first time as part of a special exhibition at the New York Public Library.
The exhibit will coincide with a year-long celebration marking the centenary of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, opening the Tuesday after Mamdani's inauguration.
Schomburg sold his collection—more than 4,000 items—to the library in 1926, laying the foundation for the centre. His decision to include the Quran was, in part, a rebuttal to a childhood teacher who once told him that Black people lacked history or notable figures.
Abid said the display is intended not only to highlight Schomburg's legacy but also to deepen public understanding of Muslim life in New York City.
Although it is customary for elected officials to take the oath of office with a hand on a religious text, there is no legal requirement to do so—or to use any book at all. Most previous New York mayors have sworn in on a Bible.
Mamdani's advisers said his faith, which was a defining feature of his campaign and a frequent target of political hostility, made it especially important to incorporate both family heirlooms and historically significant texts into the ceremony.
In a statement, Rahim said Mamdani's decision would address “a long deferred absence” of Muslims from the city's civic life.
“This moment will mark a turning point in the civic history of New York City, and it belongs to every New Yorker whose lives shaped this city quietly, without ever being reflected back to them,” she said.
Mamdani joins a small group of US elected officials to have used the Quran during a swearing-in, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Representative Ilhan Omar. In New York, City Council member Shahana Hanif was sworn in on a family Quran in 2022.
While tens of thousands of New Yorkers gather in Times Square to welcome 2026, New York mayor elect Zohran Mamdani will take his private oath at midnight in an abandoned subway station beneath City Hall—an architectural relic dating back to the Gilded Age.
The station, opened in 1904 and decommissioned in 1945, once served as one of the city's original subway stops and now functions as a turnaround point for the 5 train.
It was designated a New York City landmark in 1979 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Mamdani described the location as symbolically resonant of the “inauguration of a new era”.
“It was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working peoples' lives,” he said.
“That ambition need not be a memory confined only to our past, nor must it be isolated only to the tunnels beneath city hall: it will be the purpose of the administration fortunate enough to serve New Yorkers from the building above.”
He added that he was “humbled by the opportunity to lead millions of New Yorkers into a new era of opportunity, and honored to carry forward our city's legacy of greatness”.
New York Attorney General Letitia James will administer the midnight oath, with a second public ceremony later in the day led by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, followed by a block party along Broadway.
James said the subway setting reflected the city's shared civic life. “For all of our strengths and weaknesses as individuals, we ride together on the train, to places far and wide,” she said.
Only former mayor Bill de Blasio has confirmed he will attend. Former mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani have not publicly responded, while outgoing mayor Eric Adams said he would decide after speaking with Mamdani.
“That's a very important, historical day, and it's unfortunate that there's a body of some of his supporters, some of them, who rather protest everything,” Adams said. “If he's cool, I'm cool.” Mamdani later said his predecessor was “still welcome to my inauguration”.
Even before taking office, Mamdani has faced criticism from high-profile figures. Tech billionaire Elon Musk criticised Mamdani decision to appoint Lillian Bonsignore, a veteran emergency medical services leader, to head the city's fire department.
“Proven experience matters when lives are at stake,” Musk wrote on X. Mamdani responded: “Experience does matter, which is why I appointed the person who spent more than 30 years at EMS. You know, the workforce that addresses at least 70% of all calls coming into FDNY?”
Source: Livemint
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