Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will hold a private swearing-in ceremony on January 1 beneath the tiled vaults of the long-closed Old City Hall subway station, with a public inauguration to follow outside City Hall. The subterranean stop, opened in 1904 and closed in 1945, is normally reachable only on guided tours operated by the New York Transit Museum. Mamdani, 34, will become the city’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest since 1892; organizers say the short, private rite celebrates the station’s architectural legacy and the city’s public life. The event briefly returns a hidden piece of New York transit history to public view while spotlighting questions about access, preservation, and the symbolism of civic space.
Key takeaways
- Old City Hall station opened in 1904 and was taken out of service in 1945 after growing operational incompatibilities with longer trains.
- The station’s vaulted Guastavino tilework was designed by Rafael Guastavino and survives as a notable example of early-20th-century transit architecture.
- Access is restricted: New York Transit Museum tours require membership (individual membership starts at $65) and the Old City Hall tour ticket is typically $50.
- The 6 train still runs past the disused platform after stopping at the modern Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station, which is how tours reach the site.
- One practical reason for closure was the widening gap between trains and the station’s curved platform after trains lengthened, creating a safety hazard.
- Mamdani will be 34 on inauguration day, making him the youngest New York City mayor since 1892 and the city’s first Muslim mayor.
- Subway fares are scheduled to rise from $2.90 to $3.00 in 2026, underlining ongoing transit funding debates that intersect with symbolic events like this one.
Background
The Old City Hall station was part of New York’s original subway footprint and opened in 1904 beneath the municipal building constructed in 1812. Built during the Gilded Age, the station was intended as both a functional transit space and a civic showpiece, with decorative tile vaults and skylights that reflected contemporary aspirations for beautified public infrastructure. Rafael Guastavino’s vaulting — used across several New York landmarks — gave the station its most distinctive architectural features and helped make it a touchstone for advocates of historic transit preservation. Over time, practical changes to rolling stock and route design rendered the platform incompatible with longer, straighter trains, and the station closed in 1945 rather than be substantially reconstructed.
Since closure, Old City Hall has remained largely off-limits to the general public and is accessible only through guided visits administered by the New York Transit Museum. Those tours are limited to museum members and operate by using the active 6 train to pass the operational Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall stop and access the disused platform. The one-staircase entrance is kept locked, and museum guides use portable ramps with handrails to bridge the gap and move visitors safely along the platform during visits. The station’s preservation has been driven by a mix of historical interest, tourism, and occasional calls for adaptive reuse among preservationists and some transit advocates.
Main event
The private swearing-in beneath the station’s tiled arches is set for January 1 and will be a brief ceremony before the public inauguration outside City Hall. Organizers describe the subterranean location as symbolic: a nod to municipal history and to infrastructure that served generations of commuters. The 6 train’s active right-of-way runs past the platform, so logistical planning for the private ceremony includes coordination with transit operators and museum personnel to ensure safety and minimal disruption to service.
Mamdani released a short statement characterizing the station as a “physical monument” to civic ambition and to projects that reshape working peoples’ lives, language organizers say. The private event will be limited in scale, with specific guest lists and security arrangements handled by the mayor-elect’s team and city authorities; those operational details have not been publicly disclosed. Following the underground rite, the standard above-ground inauguration outside City Hall will proceed as the primary public ceremony.
Visitors who have toured the site previously report that museum staff use ramps and handrails to bridge the gap to the platform and that access is tightly controlled. A 2019 visit by a former Business Insider reporter noted the care taken by guides to escort visitors safely across the platform and to explain the station’s architectural and operational history. The station entrance remains padlocked except during scheduled visits, so public access outside this special event will remain limited.
Analysis & implications
Choosing Old City Hall for the swearing-in is a deliberate symbolic move that ties a contemporary political milestone to a preserved civic space. For Mamdani — both the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than a century — the setting emphasizes continuity between past civic investments and present-day ambitions for structural change. The location allows the administration to frame the inauguration as rooted in public infrastructure and communal places, rather than solely ceremonial pageantry.
Practically, the choice raises questions about security, accessibility, and precedent. Holding an official act in a site not designed for large modern gatherings requires extra coordination with transit and museum officials, and it spotlights the constraints of limited-access heritage sites. It may also prompt renewed public discussion about restoring or repurposing disused transit spaces, an expensive and politically fraught prospect in a city with urgent needs for expanded service and capital investment.
Politically, the optics matter: staging part of the inauguration underground can be read as a message about government priorities — historic preservation, transit, and the neighborhoods served by subways. Internationally, the ceremony will be noted both for the demographic milestone it represents and for its unconventional venue. Domestically, advocates for transit funding may use the attention to press for repairs and expanded accessibility, while fiscal conservatives may question the cost implications of any proposed restoration.
Comparison & data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Station opened | 1904 |
| Station closed | 1945 |
| Typical tour ticket | $50 |
| NY Transit Museum membership | From $65/year (individual) |
| Mayor-elect age | 34 (youngest since 1892) |
| Subway fare | $2.90 (current); $3.00 (2026 scheduled) |
The table summarizes the key factual anchors for the story: dates of operation, access costs, and the personal and fiscal details that frame public reaction. The station’s historical closure in 1945 reflects an operational decision tied to rolling-stock changes rather than decline in ridership; contemporary restoration would require substantial structural work and funding commitments. Tour availability remains limited, so the swearing-in represents a rare public-facing use of the space and a momentary widening of access to a normally restricted site.
Reactions & quotes
“It’s a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working peoples’ lives,”
Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect (statement)
Mamdani’s remark frames the ceremony in civic and social terms, linking architectural beauty to policy ambitions focused on improving everyday life for New Yorkers.
“Tour guides use a ramp to bridge the gap between the train and the platform, and they take care to escort visitors safely,”
Graham Rapier, former Business Insider reporter
Rapier’s observation from a 2019 visit underscores the practical measures used to make the station accessible on tours, and it highlights why specialists accompany groups to manage safety on the curved platform.
Unconfirmed
- The precise guest list and full security arrangements for the private swearing-in have not been disclosed publicly.
- No formal timeline or funding commitment for restoration or regular public reopening of the Old City Hall station has been announced.
- Any long-term plans to repurpose the station for transit use or public programs remain speculative until city or MTA officials release proposals.
Bottom line
The underground swearing-in at Old City Hall is both a symbolic and logistical statement: it connects a historic piece of New York’s transit and civic architecture to a milestone political moment. For Mamdani, the choice amplifies themes of accessibility, public investment, and generational change; for the city, it spotlights competing priorities in preservation, transit funding, and public access.
Watch in the coming months for how the administration balances symbolic gestures with concrete proposals on transit funding and infrastructure, and whether this event spurs renewed public debate about making hidden civic spaces more accessible. The ceremony is short and focused, but it may have a longer resonance for conversations about how New York preserves and uses its built heritage.
Sources
- Business Insider — news media (report on the swearing-in and station)
- New York Transit Museum — official museum (tour operator and site steward)
- Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) — official transit authority (infrastructure and operational context)