2 w. ago For Americans, 2026 started with two starkly different visions for the country | Moira Donegan

Zohran Mamdani’s optimistic inauguration contrasted in every single way with Trump’s brazen invasion of VenezuelaThe new year opened with a pair of scenes that illustrated the great divide within the US and the stakes of the ongoing contest over its future. On 1 January, in a star-studded inauguration ceremony of uncommon pomp and optimism, Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist, was sworn in as the new mayor of New York and delivered a speech that declared the era of small government and centrist inhibition to be over, and a new dawn of ambitious social welfare programs to begin.The new mayor’s inauguration is the culmination of a decade of growth from the Democratic party’s insurgent left wing, and results from a feat of organizing within the country’s largest city that relied upon mass mobilization from downwardly mobile and economically disenfranchised millennial and gen Z voters. It was hailed as a generational shift in US politics, inaugurating a new, 21st-centur...

Politics

2 w. ago At Zohran Mamdani’s block party, I observed a simple truth: people want more politics, not less | Samuel Earle

Years of scandal and disappointment have left a void in our politics. But New York’s new mayor offers an alternative to more apathy: hope On 1 January, to mark his inauguration as mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani threw a block party. As he was sworn in outside city hall in front of a crowd of a few thousand of us, a nearby street in Manhattan was closed to traffic so that tens of thousands more could gather to watch the historic moment live on enormous screens. The weather – a cloudless blue sky and arctic winds – felt somehow fitting: a licence to dream and a warning against complacency.Mayors don’t usually take office amid such a festival atmosphere. A smaller, more exclusive event is normally adequate. But a key feature of Mamdani’s rise has been the desire for mass participation in politics. There was no chance this day was going to pass without an open-invitation party. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago What Zohran Mamdani’s suit tells us about the man and the way society is changing

In politics, clothes matter – as the mid-market formal wear favoured by the new, young New York mayor testifiesGrowing up in London in the 00s, I was surrounded by suits. On City boys darting around the Square Mile. In Hyde Park, where Arab dads in baggy suits kicked footballs with their children in honeyed light. At school, where cheap grey suits were our uniform. The suit has always been a costume of seriousness that signals powerfulness and performance; all the things I was apparently supposed to want if I ever intended to become a “man”. But until recently, my generation seemed to wear them less and less, and they had all but disappeared from my consciousness.Then came the newly elected New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who was sworn in at a private ceremony dressed in a sober black overcoat, crisp white shirt and an Eri silk tie from New Delhi-based designer Kartik Kumra of Kartik Research – styled by US fashion editor, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. Buoyed up by an ingenious cam...

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2 w. ago Zohran Mamdani officially sworn in on a Quran full of symbolism

Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is making history not only as the city's first mayor to take the oath of office on a Quran but also as the first Muslim, South Asian, and African-born mayor

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2 w. ago New year celebrations and Zohran Mamdani sworn in: photos of the day – Thursday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Watch: Zohran Mamdani becomes first New York mayor to be sworn in on the Quran

Zohran Mamdani became the first New York City mayor to be sworn in using the Quran, in a symbolic inauguration performed at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Politics

2 w. ago Zohran Mamdani takes oath on the Quran as he's sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station

Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.

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2 w. ago Zohran Mamdani sworn in as NYC’s first Muslim, South Asian and African

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, claimed an unlikely win in New York City’s mayoral race on a campaign promising a rent freeze and universal childcare

Politics

3 w. ago Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station

Zohran Mamdani is the new mayor of New York City

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3 w. ago Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor on a Quran, a first in New York City history

Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will make history as the city's first mayor to take the oath of office on a Quran

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3 w. ago Incoming NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be sworn in at abandoned subway stop on NYE

The private ceremony will take place at Old City Hall Station just before midnight

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3 w. ago Zohran Mamdani is set to be sworn in as mayor as NYC rings in the New Year

Zohran Mamdani will become mayor of New York City as the clock ticks over into 2026 — but the celebrations are set to last through New Year’s Day

Politics

3 w. ago Mamdani to be sworn in as New York mayor in abandoned subway station

Mamdani to take oath of office on New Year’s Eve in Gilded Age subway station beneath city hallWhile tens of thousands of New Yorkers will be in Times Square for countdown to 2026, the city’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has said he will be sworn into office in an underground midnight private ceremony at an abandoned subway station built during the Gilded Age.Mamdani, 34, plans to take the oath of office on New Year’s Eve in a disused subway station beneath city hall which acts as turnaround for the local 5 train. The unusual choice of venue for the ceremony, Mamdani said, is symbolically resonant of the “inauguration of a new era”. Continue reading...

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