Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to introduce Zohran Mamdani at New Year’s Day inauguration

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) along with New York State Assembly member Zohran Kwame Mamdani attend the 2025 National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City on June 8, 2025. (Luiz Rampelotto/dpa/EuropaNewswire/picture alliance/SIPA via CNN Newsource)

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration will feature Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the two most prominent leaders of the Democratic Party’s progressive movement.

Mamdani, who will be publicly sworn in at a City Hall inauguration ceremony on New Year’s Day, will be introduced by fellow New Yorker Ocasio-Cortez, his transition team told CNN.

“For the many New Yorkers who have long felt betrayed by a broken status quo, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez embodies a new kind of politics that puts working people at the heart of it,” Mamdani said in a statement. “I’ve been so proud to count her as a partner across the many stages of our people-powered movement—from the primary campaign to our Forest Hills rally in October to the very first day of the transition—and I’m honored that she’ll be a part of our historic City Hall inauguration.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Mamdani early in the primary and campaigned alongside him on several occasions, is expected to deliver opening remarks at the ceremony, which is open to 4,000 ticketed guests.

Mamdani’s transition is also organizing a “watch party” set to take place alongside Broadway, part of an effort to make the celebration accessible to any New Yorker who wants to attend.

Sanders will administer Mamdani’s oath of office during the City Hall ceremony. Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, will technically take office at midnight on New Year’s Day.

As thousands of revelers usher in the new year in Times Square, Mamdani and his family will be in Lower Manhattan where a private swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place at an old, now defunct subway station underneath City Hall Plaza.

Gloria Pazmino, CNN