Zohran Mamdani was sworn in just before midnight on Jan. 1 as New York City mayor, becoming the first Muslim and South Asian to lead the US largest city after taking the oath of office on the Quran.

The ceremony was held at the abandoned Old City Hall subway station, one of the city’s original stations built in 1904 and decommissioned in 1945.

New York Attorney General Letitia James administered the oath alongside Mamdani’s family ahead of a public ceremony Thursday afternoon to be led by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

According to several US media outlets, the Qurans used during the ceremony included a copy belonging to Mamdani’s grandfather and another once owned by Black writer and historian Arturo Schomburg lent by the New York Public Library.

Mamdani, 34, is also the first African-born person to serve as New York City’s mayor. He was born in Uganda to Indian immigrant parents.

He won the mayoral race in Nov. 4 elections, defeating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in a historic victory for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing.

A democratic socialist, Mamdani ran a campaign focused on affordability and expanded social services, pledging free buses, universal childcare, city-run grocery stores, expanded rent-stabilized housing and raising the minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2030. (AA)

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