NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, entering one of the most unforgiving jobs in American politics as one of the country's most watched figures.

The Democrat protested at a decommissioned subway station beneath City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took office as the city's first Muslim mayor.

“This is truly a unique honor and privilege. in life,” Mamdani said after the brief private ceremony.

After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani returned to City Hall in a taxi around noon on Thursday for a grander public ceremony at 1 p.m., where U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor's political figures, would lead the inauguration for the second time.

New Yorkers gathered in the bitter cold for an inauguration party south of City Hall in an area of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its confetti parades.

In addition to being the city's first Muslim mayor, he is also the first of South Asian descent and the first born in Africa. At 34, he is also the city's youngest city councilor in generations.

In a campaign that helped turn “affordability” into a buzzword across the political spectrum, the Democratic Socialist promised transformative change with policies aimed at reducing the cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. His program included free kindergarten and buses, a rent freeze for about a million households, and a pilot test of grocery stores run by municipal authorities.

But he will also have to face other responsibilities: managing garbage, snow and rats, while being blamed for subway delays and potholes on the roads.

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and writer. His family moved to New York City when he was 7 years old, and he grew up in a city scarred by the attacks of September 11, 2001, where Muslims did not always feel welcome. He became a U.S. citizen in 2018.

He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before running for public office, and won a seat in the state Assembly in 2020 as a representative of part of Queens.

Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will leave their rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment in a suburban neighborhood to take up residence in the mayor's stately official residence in Manhattan.

Mamdani inherits a booming city, after years of slow recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has fallen to pre-pandemic levels. The tourists have returned. Unemployment, which skyrocketed during the early 2020s, has also returned to pre-coronavirus levels.

However, there remains deep concern about high prices and rising rents in the city.

He will also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

During the mayoral race, the president threatened to withhold federal funds from the city if Mamdani won and raised the deployment of National Guard troops to the city.

But Trump surprised allies and opponents alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what It ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

“I want him to do a great job and I will help him do a great job,” the president said.

Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep political disagreements, especially over immigration.

Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city's Jewish community for his criticism of the Israeli government.

The new mayor and his team They have spent the weeks since their election victory preparing the transition, surrounding Mamdani with people with experience in or alongside the city government.

That included persuading the city's police chief, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position, a move that helped allay fears in the business community that the city government may be planning sweeping changes to policing strategy.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.