New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, held a private swearing-in beneath the decommissioned Old City Hall subway station shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, a deliberate symbolic choice that ties his administration to the city’s transit history and working-class roots. The small ceremony on Dec. 31, 2025, included family and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who administered the oath; a public inauguration and block party were planned later near City Hall. Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who campaigned on measures such as fare relief and strengthened public transit, described the subterranean venue as a reminder of civic ambition that once prioritized both beauty and public service. The choice revives attention to the station’s architectural significance and to transit as a political touchstone in a city debating funding and access to mass transit.
Key Takeaways
- Zohran Mamdani held a private swearing-in at the decommissioned Old City Hall subway station shortly after midnight on Dec. 31, 2025.
- The ceremony’s invited guests included Mamdani’s family and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who administered the oath; a public inauguration was scheduled later the same day near City Hall with a block party.
- Old City Hall Station originally opened on Oct. 27, 1904, as the first stop on New York City’s first subway line and was closed on New Year’s Eve in 1945.
- The station is celebrated for ornate features — brass chandeliers, glass skylights, Guastavino vaulted ceilings and green-and-cream tilework — which have earned it nicknames such as an “underground cathedral.”
- The location choice underscores Mamdani’s campaign emphasis on transit access and working-class priorities and signals symbolic alignment with public-transport policy debates.
Background
Old City Hall Station was designed by architects George Heins and Christopher LaFarge and opened on Oct. 27, 1904, as the inaugural terminal on the city’s first subway route. Built with Guastavino tiled vaults, large brass fixtures and skylights looking out to the park above, the station was widely praised as a civic achievement and an architectural showpiece in its era. Over time, subway car designs changed and longer trains made the curved, shorter platforms at City Hall impractical; the city closed the station in 1945, with service ending on New Year’s Eve that year.
Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy ran on a platform centered on redistributive urban policy, including pledges around free or reduced-fare public transit, housing affordability and equity for working New Yorkers. Choosing a historic transit site for a private oath ties those campaign themes to a physical symbol: a station built at a moment when municipal infrastructure was presented as a public good that could visibly uplift daily life. The decision also revives broader conversations about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s funding, capital needs and how symbolic gestures relate to concrete policy action.
Main Event
The private ceremony took place beneath City Hall in the old station’s vaulted space, where Mamdani met with close allies and family in the early hours after Dec. 31, 2025. Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, delivered the oath; she later posted that the subways “connect us all” and praised the symbolic choice as aligned with the mayor’s priorities. The mayor’s statement to Streetsblog described the station’s original opening in 1904 as “a physical monument” to civic ambition that served working people and said that ambition should guide his administration above ground as well.
City officials also scheduled a public inauguration for the afternoon of Dec. 31, 2025, near City Hall, followed by a block party intended to welcome residents and signal a transition from private ceremony to public celebration. Event planning emphasized inclusivity and outreach to neighborhoods most dependent on transit, while security and logistics were coordinated with municipal agencies given the downtown location and expected crowd size. Observers noted the two-part format—private symbolic oath, public inauguration—aligns with both personal commemoration and traditional civic ritual.
Media coverage highlighted contrasts between the ornate, closed station and contemporary debates about the MTA’s capital backlog, accessibility, and fare policy. Transit historians and civic groups used the moment to remind the public that the station can still be glimpsed from the 6 line’s turnaround or visited on guided tours organized by the New York Transit Museum, keeping the site accessible as a cultural artifact even while it is no longer in regular service.
Analysis & Implications
Mamdani’s choice of Old City Hall Station reads as a strategic symbolic act: it connects his stated policy priorities—expanded transit access, pro-worker governance, and municipal ambition—with a highly visible artifact of civic engineering. Symbolism can frame a new mayor’s agenda and shape early expectations, but it does not substitute for the budgetary and legislative work required to enact fare relief or major transit investments. The administration will face immediate tests in negotiating with the MTA, Albany lawmakers, and transit unions over funding and implementation timelines.
Politically, the subterranean venue sends a message to base supporters and to pragmatic stakeholders. For supporters who prioritized fare affordability and transit-first policies, the ceremony signals commitment; for fiscal officials and transit managers, it raises questions about the administration’s policy specifics, funding sources, and operational priorities. How Mamdani translates symbolic urgency into concrete proposals—whether pilot fare programs, capital funding campaigns, or new governance arrangements—will determine if the gesture yields material change.
At the citywide level, elevating a closed-but-iconic transit site reframes public memory about infrastructure: it recalls an era when municipal projects were touted as transformative public goods. That narrative can be mobilized to build public support for large-scale investments, but it also invites scrutiny about feasibility, particularly against the backdrop of MTA debt, post-pandemic ridership shifts, and competing budgetary demands such as housing and public safety. International observers may see the moment as part of a global trend of progressive urban leaders using symbolism to announce broader reform agendas.
Comparison & Data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Opening date | Oct. 27, 1904 |
| Closure date | New Year’s Eve, 1945 |
| Notable features | Guastavino vaulted ceilings, brass chandeliers, glass skylights, curved platform |
| Public access today | Visible from the 6 line and via New York Transit Museum guided tours |
The table above places the station’s operational life and defining design elements in context: it served as an early terminal for the city’s first subway line and has remained a preserved architectural relic since 1945. While the physical station is no longer in regular service, its preservation and periodic public access through tours have maintained its role in civic memory and transit heritage.
Reactions & Quotes
“When the station first opened in 1904, it was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working peoples’ lives,” Mamdani told Streetsblog NYC, linking the venue to his administration’s aims.
Zohran Mamdani / statement to Streetsblog NYC
“Our subways connect us all, and they represent exactly what our next mayor is fighting for: a city every New Yorker can thrive in,” Attorney General Letitia James wrote on social media after administering the oath.
Letitia James / social media post
Newspaper coverage has long described Old City Hall as an “underground cathedral” and compared its civic value to celebrated works of art, underscoring why public figures turn to the site for symbolic acts.
The New York Times / historical reporting
Unconfirmed
- Whether the private ceremony indicates an immediate policy timetable or guaranteed funding for fare-free transit programs remains unconfirmed; no specific budget details were released at the time of the ceremony.
- The full guest list and security arrangements for the private swearing-in have not been publicly disclosed beyond named attendees such as Letitia James and family members.
- Any operational plan for repurposing or reopening parts of Old City Hall Station beyond existing museum tours has not been announced and remains speculative.
Bottom Line
Mamdani’s swearing-in beneath Old City Hall Station is a carefully chosen symbol that ties his administration to longstanding conversations about transit as a public good and to the city’s working-class constituencies. The venue evokes an early-20th-century municipal vision—one that framed infrastructure as civic uplift—and Mamdani is using that imagery to set expectations for his mayoralty’s priorities.
The effectiveness of the gesture will be judged by policy follow-through: whether the administration produces detailed plans, funding strategies, and legislative partnerships to address fare policy, capital investment, and transit equity. In the near term, watch for early budget proposals, negotiations with the MTA and Albany, and any pilot initiatives that test the administration’s stated commitment to making transit more accessible and affordable.
Sources
- NPR (news report)
- Streetsblog NYC (local reporting — original outlet that first reported Mamdani’s remarks)
- New York Transit Museum (museum/heritage institution — guided tours and station history)
- The New York Times (historical coverage and reporting on Old City Hall Station)