In subzero temperatures, about 40,000 people are expected to flood Manhattan streets on Thursday for a massive “block party” marking what organizers call the most unconventional inauguration in New York history. Giant screens will show the ever-smiling face of Zohran Mamdani, the city’s new mayor and the first Muslim to hold the office.
Mamdani will be sworn in on the Quran at City Hall, to the cheers of the crowd and with a blessing led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, who will preside over the ceremony. Outside, club music will play, a Zohran look-alike contest will offer a $100 prize, and supporters from across the United States are expected to attend what they see as a historic moment. It is the start of what Mamdani has described as “a new era” for the Big Apple.
Mamdani's victory speech in November: 'Trump - turn up the volume!'
(Video: Reuters)
In Israel, officials will follow the inauguration speech closely. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and New York Consul General Ofir Akunis are set to watch the ceremony live. Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams has already packed his bags, vacated Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence. While he initially said that, breaking with tradition, he would not attend the ceremony, he later changed his mind and said he would be there.
At his final press briefing, Adams told reporters, “You’re going to have a lot of fun over the next four years,” summing up a term that began with a promise to be “the face of the new Democratic Party” and ended, as critics put it, in a Greek tragedy, or at least a comedy of errors.
As his successor prepares for a star-studded inauguration backed by progressive and pro-Palestinian figures, Adams said he plans to devote his time to writing a book, studying and fighting antisemitism through cryptocurrency. “I want to use Bitcoin to really deal with the antisemitism we’re seeing,” he said, without elaborating.
For many in the Jewish community, recent months have felt like a glitch in the matrix. How could “the best friend of the Jewish people,” in a city home to the world’s largest Jewish community, a mayor who stood firmly with Israel in the darkest moments after October 7, wore the hostages’ dog tag proudly, and confronted pro-Palestinian protesters head-on, be forced out of City Hall in disgrace?
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Eric Adams in his final press briefing as NYC mayor: 'I want to use Bitcoin to really deal with the antisemitism we’re seeing'
(Photo: Yuki Iwamura/ AP)
Even before becoming mayor, Adams, as Brooklyn borough president, forged close ties with rabbis, community leaders and activists, particularly in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Crown Heights and Borough Park. In return, the community provided significant electoral support that helped propel his career. Long before the Gaza war, Adams embraced the idea that fighting antisemitism and fighting racism against Black Americans were one and the same.
“Your struggle is my struggle. The same swastika aimed at Jews is aimed at Black people,” he repeated in speech after speech. Until his final day in office, he stood with the Jewish community, signing orders and directives meant to block initiatives by Mamdani that would support boycotts of Israel.
Despite this, the charismatic politician became one of the least popular mayors in New York history, with approval ratings plunging to record lows. Voters’ grievances went far beyond Israel: a cost-of-living crisis, record homelessness, a string of alleged corruption cases, nepotism, poor management, and a steady stream of scandals that resembled the plot of a low-budget Netflix political drama more than effective governance.
New York Mayor Eric Adams at a protest outside the United Nations headquarters after October 7
Adams entered office in 2022 promising to restore New York’s “swagger.” A former police officer who described himself as “tough with a soul,” he grew up poor in Queens and cast himself as a champion of the working class. He was magnetic, loved microphones, and spoke bluntly. During a weekend storm, he famously urged residents to “stay home and make babies.”
But early in his term, he surrounded himself with longtime loyalists and close associates, including former romantic partners, many of whom carried significant ethical baggage. He tried to appoint his brother, Bernard, to a senior post with a $240,000 annual salary, a move blocked only by city anti-nepotism rules.
His top adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, whom he called “my sister,” was charged with bribery after allegedly using her position to secure a television role and buy her son a luxury Porsche. Winnie Greco, his Asia liaison, resigned after being filmed handing cash to a local journalist inside a bag of potato chips. Other senior officials, including Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks and senior adviser Timothy Pearson, were embroiled in violent altercations, federal investigations, and FBI raids on their homes.
In one of the more bizarre episodes of his tenure, Adams claimed to carry a photo of his friend, police officer Robert Venable, who was killed in the line of duty in 1987. When The New York Times asked to see it, Adams produced a fake image. His staff had downloaded a photo from Google, printed it on an office printer, and spilled coffee on it to make it look “old and worn.”
There was also the time he was caught eating fish at a luxury restaurant despite declaring himself a devout vegan. “I am whole in my imperfection,” he explained.
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Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani promises a new era in news conference last week
(Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP)
Adams’ credibility eroded long before a federal indictment, including allegations of improper benefits from Turkish Airlines, made him the first New York mayor in the modern era to face federal charges. Even tangible achievements, such as a drop in crime and reforms to remove trash bags from sidewalks, failed to outweigh the cloud of scandal and the perception of lost control.
His increasingly close ties with Donald Trump, who effectively intervened to see the indictment dropped, further damaged his standing in the deeply Democratic city. Four of his deputies resigned in protest over cooperation with the White House. Even his natural allies, including middle-class voters, leaders in disadvantaged neighborhoods, African American activists and progressive Jews, turned their backs on him.
Into this vacuum stepped Zohran Mamdani. The 34-year-old’s inauguration is designed as the complete opposite of Adams’ style. It will begin at midnight on New Year’s Eve with a symbolic ceremony at the abandoned subway station beneath City Hall, a nod to his campaign slogan about connecting with the city’s “underground” and its most marginalized residents. The station was abandoned on New Year’s Eve 1945, largely because long trains could not navigate its curved platform.
That symbolic oath will be overseen by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a staunch opponent of Trump. The following day, at the main public ceremony, Mamdani will be sworn in by Sanders, a leading figure of America’s progressive left. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is also set to speak.
What has most alarmed many in the Jewish community, however, is the list of figures Mamdani selected for his inaugural committee, a body formed by the mayor-elect to organize events, raise funds and manage the transition. In practice, it also serves as a political showcase, signaling who is owed gratitude and who is expected to feel at home in the new administration. One rabbi described it bluntly as “a dream team assembled specifically to poke us in the eye.”
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Zohran Mamdani at a campaign event with Sen. Bernie Sanders
(Photo: Angela Weiss / AFP)
Among committee members is “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon, one of Hollywood’s most vocal critics of Israel, whom Mamdani joined during a hunger strike for Gaza outside the White House. Also included are actors Luis Guzmán (“Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia”) and Kal Penn (“House”), who have accused Israel of “genocide” and called to “stop the war and the U.S.-funded killing.”
Other members include Tony Award winner Cole Escola, affiliated with Queer Artists for Palestine; author Min Jin Lee (“Pachinko”), who has called for boycotts of Israeli cultural institutions; and Rachel Griffin Accurso, known as Miss Rachel, a YouTube star beloved by millions of toddlers. Accurso has raised funds for UNRWA and harshly criticized Israel, prompting Jewish organizations to ask the Trump administration to examine whether she was paid to spread what they described as “Hamas propaganda” under the guise of children’s content.
The committee also includes representatives of the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, which has led mass protests against Israel, as well as official backing from the progressive Jewish organization Bend the Arc. In this context, the name of Steven Spielberg has also surfaced. The USC Shoah Foundation, founded by Spielberg after “Schindler’s List” to “give back to the Jewish community,” has funneled about $1.2 million in recent years to an organization that openly supports Mamdani, opposes the IHRA definition of antisemitism on the grounds that it prevents denying Israel’s right to exist, and accuses the United States over the Gaza war.
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Rachel Griffin Accurso, known as Miss Rachel, who has has raised funds for UNRWA and harshly criticized Israel
(Photo: YouTube)
According to a review by Front Page magazine, since 2020 Spielberg’s foundation has donated $2.4 million to groups identified as anti-Zionist, while allocating only $125,000 in the same period to projects explicitly dedicated to Holocaust remembrance.
Also on the inaugural committee are former Obama administration officials and the owner of Sammy’s Kebab House, Mamdani’s favorite eatery in his Astoria neighborhood.
As parts of New York prepare to celebrate the massive party, others fear a mayor who, in their view, prefers Miss Rachel and kebab vendors over standing with the Jewish community. Many say they already miss Adams, despite his complicated legacy of scandals, public fatigue and eroded trust. For them, his departure marks the loss of a rare ally, perhaps the last of his kind in American politics. Even if he succumbed to hubris and excess, they say, when Hamas attacked, he knew how to distinguish between right and wrong.
First published: 02:59, 12.31.25