Overall, you may agree, the new year has not brought good news. It didn’t cheer us up. The soothsayers warned us that this year would likely be violent and chaotic. This also seems to be the legacy that 2025 has left.
And so, I was ready to write a column to project that sense of gloom. If you have read and heard the end-of-year reviews in the mainstream media, you will have evidence to make a similar assessment. Even this wedding season allows guests to complain together amid all the glamor and glitz.
But after midnight Thursday, while waiting for the live broadcast of Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as New York’s new mayor, I changed my mind. How could I have ignored this moment in history? Isn’t 2026 now the year of Mamdani?
We’ve already experienced the thrill and magic of how a 34-year-old Muslim man, born to South Asian parents, was elected mayor of the world’s largest city in a country that had elected Donald Trump as president a year earlier. First it was about Mamdani’s nomination in the Democratic primary and then the election itself. The world has witnessed a new type of revolution within a democratic framework.
I would like to say that while we rejoice in the glory of Mamdani, we can leave the world behind for the time being. However, a strange reminder occurred: the world cannot be left behind. As it happens, details of the tragedy in which around 40 people were killed in a fire that ravaged a bar at a Swiss ski resort emerged around the same time the media was reporting on the inauguration in New York.
Regardless, around the world and especially in the United States, the start of a new era in New York was the news that mattered. For many, there would still be a feeling of disbelief that such a young man, a proclaimed socialist and Muslim, would take over the richest city in the world. This is how miracles happen.
I am sure there will be millions of people in far-flung corners of the world who watched this ceremony and were overcome with emotion – like me. It is truly rare to have this experience, to feel like an observer of a story in the making. Yes, Sadiq Khan also made history when he was elected mayor of London, the largest city in the world before New York – and I’ll get to that in a moment.
I need a break to say something about my fascination with New York, the ultimate city. Reading about it in literature and watching its awe-inspiring grandeur in Hollywood films in my youth had sparked a deep desire to visit the city and walk its streets. Now that I have gotten to know the city through my intermittent visits, the allure and mystery of what it really is persists. I continue to read about it, mainly in memoirs and biographies. New York, New York.
What will Mamdani do with his promises? Let’s go back to the inauguration. In fact, before the midday public event, attended by thousands of shivering supporters in subzero temperatures, a modest inauguration ceremony was held just after midnight.
In his first speech as mayor, he delivered the headline-grabbing words: “Starting today, we will govern expansively and boldly.” He assured New Yorkers that he intends to implement his affordability agenda and that he will refuse to “reset expectations” for what government can and should do for the working class and the unprotected. “I was elected a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” he declared.
Separate reports in American and foreign media indicate that he was sworn in on a Quran. Senator Bernie Sanders took the oath of office while Mamdani placed his hand on two Qurans held by his wife Rama Duwaji.
There are stories about the origin of these two Qurans.
As I said, history was also made when Sadiq Khan, the son of a Pakistani bus driver, was elected Mayor of London. He had taken an oath on a Quran and this was widely noted and commented on. Moreover, he made history again when he was elected mayor for a third term in 2024.
The occasion when he first took the oath on a Quran had occurred earlier, when he became a member of the Queen’s Privy Council in 2009. An anecdote about this was reported by the BBC and became well known. Buckingham Palace called Sadiq Khan to ask if he would take the oath before the Queen and what kind of Bible he would like.
Sadiq Khan, quoted by the BBC, said: “I swear on the Quran. I am Muslim.” They said they didn’t have a Quran. Could he bring his own? In Sadiq’s words: “So I went to Buckingham Palace with my Quran and then they returned it and I said, ‘No, can I leave it here for the next person’?
On Thursday, after Mamdani, two other senior officials were sworn in. One said: “How remarkable that on these steps today we have three swearing-ins. One by a leader using a Quran, one by a leader using a Christian Bible and one by a leader using a Chumash, or Hebrew Bible. I’m proud to live in a city where this is possible.”
Of course. But many of us who are not New Yorkers will be closely following what these leaders do and what impact it will have on the rest of the country. What is already evident is that the left is ascendant in New York. In his speech, Bernie Sanders thanked New York “for inspiring our nation” from coast to coast. I wish he could tell the rest of the world that.
The writer is a seasoned journalist. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies of PK Press Club.tv.
Originally published in The News
