A raucous chant of “tax the rich” broke out as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted the wealthy and called out “hatred and divisiveness” before swearing in fellow democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor.
“At a time in our country’s history when we are seeing too much hatred, too much divisiveness and too much injustice, thank you for electing Zohran Mamdani as your mayor,” Sanders said outside City Hall.
He then argued that Mamdani’s socialist agenda, including free buses and taxing the rich was not “radical,” sparking the chant.
After Sanders administered the ceremonial oath of office to Mamdani, the new mayor addressed the crowd, saying he planned to govern “expansively and audaciously.”
For too long, he argued, New York belonged to the “wealthy and well connected,” but no longer, Mamdani vowed.
As he mentioned his predecessor, Eric Adams, some boos broke out among the attendees.
The proud Democratic Socialists of America member assumed office at just 34 years old as the 112th mayor moments after midnight.
Mamdani held a private ceremony in the abandoned subway stop at City Hall, where New York Attorney General Letitia James swore him in before a small group of people.
The mayoral transition has been planning for weeks to host a massive “block party,” shutting down Broadway south of Canal Street in Lower Manhattan — a stretch known as the Canyon of Heroes that is typically used for ticker-tape parades.
Far-left firebrand New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered the opening remarks, followed by a poem by New York poet Cornelius Eady.
“New York, we have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,” Ocasio-Cortez said — calling the ceremony “a new era” for New York City.
Mamdani has proposed an aggressive agenda with a slew of government funded freebies, the big ticket items being: universal childcare, free buses and freezing the rent.
The new mayor has called for his $10 billion package to be covered by taxing the rich and increasing the corporate tax on companies that want to do business in the Big Apple.
That, though, will need buy-in from state officials — including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani, has been seemingly warming to at least increasing the corporate tax to cover some form of universal childcare in the state.
When it comes to fully free buses, the head of the MTA, which yearly looks to Albany for more money, slammed the idea of giving away $1 billion in fare-free rides.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber said last month Mamdani’s plan was half-baked and needed years of study before even discussing handing out those freebies.
Mamdani also faces a myriad of issues, such as staffing problems in numerous agencies, like NYPD and FDNY, a massive school system with struggling scores and budget shortfalls with surely more cuts from the feds to come.
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