Bundled against the frigid temperature and seemingly fighting off a cold, he set out Friday morning from the one-bedroom apartment in Queens that he shares with his wife. But unlike most commuters, Mamdani’s trip was documented by a photo and video crew, and periodically interrupted by neighbors wishing him luck.
But first, the symbolism-laden day one commute.
Flanked by security guards and a small clutch of aides on a Manhattan-bound train, he agreed to several selfies with wide-eyed riders, then moved to a corner seat of the train to review his briefing materials.
When a pair of French tourists, confused by the hubbub, approached Mamdani, he introduced himself as “the new mayor of New York.” They seemed doubtful. He held up the morning’s copy of the New York Daily News, featuring his smiling face, as proof.
Mamdani, a Democrat, is hardly alone among city mayors in using the transit system to communicate relatability. His predecessor, Eric Adams, also rode the subway on his first day, and both Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg made a habit out of it, particularly when seeking to make a political point.
His other early actions have also seemed to underscore that priority.
After centering much of his campaign on making rent cheaper for New Yorkers, Mamdani raced from his inauguration ceremony Thursday to a Brooklyn apartment building lobby, drawing boisterous cheers from the tenants union as he pledged that the city would ramp up an ongoing legal fight against the allegedly negligent landlord.
When a journalist on Friday asked about the revoked orders, Mamdani read from prepared remarks, promising his administration would be “relentless in its effort to combat hate and division.” He noted that he had left in place the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.
Ringed by supporters and passersby who stood several rows deep, phones in the air, to catch a glimpse of the new mayor, Mamdani then acknowledged the weight of the current moment.
“We have an opportunity where New Yorkers are allowing themselves to believe in the possibility of city government once again,” he said. “That is not a belief that will sustain itself in the absence of action.”
Also on Mamdani’s to-do list: Moving to the mayor’s official residence, a stately mansion in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, before the lease on his Queens apartment ends later this month.
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Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
