Mayor Zohran Mamdani moves into Gracie Mansion, calls it the 'people's house'
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Zohran Mamdani and his wife moved into Gracie Mansion on Monday, but while his house may change, the mayor insisted that he will not.
Mayor Mamdani and his wife Rama stood on the porch of their new home overwhelmed, perhaps, by the moment.
"On behalf of the First Lady and I, welcome to Gracie Mansion," Mamdani said.
The mayor sounded both confident and awestruck, speaking both to reporters and, maybe, to himself.
"While I maybe changing where I rest my head at the end of every evening, I will not be changing anything about how I interact with the incredible New Yorkers who call this city home," he said. "I will remain in the streets surrounded by the people I have the great privilege of serving. I will continue to take the subway, ride the bus, get on a Citi Bike, and I will never close my ears to the concerns and the opinions of New Yorkers."
Gracie Mansion is on the city's Upper East Side. Fiorello LaGuardia first moved in in 1942, and at one time or another, every mayor has lived there at least part-time.
Both Mayor bill de Blasio and Mayor Eric Adams lived there full-time, and only Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose to live in his townhouse, while using the mansion as an event space.
Mamdani is leaving behind his 800-square-foot, rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens, where he lived as an assemblyman for $2,300 a month.
"Today is moving day," Mamdani said. "So tonight, will be the first night that I sleep in Gracie Mansion."
Gracie Mansion was built in 1799, and ghost sightings are part of Gracie's legend. Mayor Mamdani says he's heard the tales but has yet to see a ghost.
"Why do people keep talking about the ghosts? I haven't yet met the ghost or heard from the ghost," Mamdani said.
Mark and Ilsa Lowe are among his new neighbors.
"I wish him well. I do, because if he succeeds, we all succeed," Mark Lowe said.
"When he's talking about change, the things I hear, I agree with," Ilsa Lowe said.
The decision to live at Gracie Mansion couldn't have been much of a choice for Mayor Mamdani. It is more than 10 times the size of his apartment in Queens, with a really nice view of Astoria from across the river.
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