Mayor Mamdani: Can You Feel The Excitement?

In New York, officials elected in November take office on January 1.  And thus, on New Year’s Day 2026, we had the inauguration of our new Mayor Zohran Mamdani.  Can you feel the excitement?

For myself, not so much.  The best I can say is that this too shall pass.  Hopefully without too much destruction in the meantime, but we have no assurance of that.

And yet it seems that plenty of people really do feel excitement.  I’m not making this up.  For example, here is the big piece on the inauguration from the New York Times.  Excerpt:

The message from the stage was unmistakable: In New York City, the left is ascendant. And to national Democratic leaders struggling to regain the party’s footing, Mr. Mamdani’s victory and the excitement surrounding it may suggest a path forward.

None other than Senator Bernie Sanders showed up to administer the oath of office (on a Quran!).  Sanders got to utter a few remarks.  He said that Mamdani embodied “hope” and “vision.”  From the Times:

“New York, thank you for inspiring our nation,” Mr. Sanders said. “Thank you for giving us, from coast to coast, the hope and the vision that we can create government that works for all, not just the wealthy and the few.”

CNN was able to capture the excitement of a gaggle of attendees at the event.  For example, there was Jen Shoemaker, who moved to New York from New Orleans 14 years ago, and recently served as a Mamdani campaign volunteer:

“Everybody’s so energetic. We’re so ready for Zohran,” said Shoemaker, who arrived more than two hours before the inauguration began. “We need Democrats with backbones and Zohran has one.”