Mamdani Mayoral Inauguration Day, as Seen from the Nosebleeds

The Bitter Cold didn't Nip the Warmth of Our New Mayor on his Big Day

January 1, 2026 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

I'll be the first to admit that the photos shown herein, aren't likely to win any awards. But I never take photographs or write reports to win awards. I take and write them to share with our readers what's going on in our fair city, as seen by one of their own - a fellow member of the plebeian citizenry of NYC. And I also report on things, with an eye toward posterity.

In the photo at right, Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji are shown walking out of City Hall and onto the steps of the political public stage on January 1, 2026. Mamdani was inaugurated privately, earlier in the day, by NYS Attorney General Letitia James. And he would be inaugurated again, cermoniously, by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, about an hour after this photo was taken.

As I was freezing my buns off in the bitter cold outside of City Hall, waiting for Mamdani to appear and give his speech, my thoughts matched the chilly bitterness of the season. The biting 20 mph+ wind gusts & the well below freezing temperatures, didn't thaw out my anger, as some long-winded speakers seemed to ignore the fact that this was Zohran's day - not theirs. And that those of us in attendance, had been waiting outside on the open streets of south Manhattan, with the biting winds coming in from the harbor, for hours.

Eventually my camera succumbed to the cold, as my battery, having been fully charged earlier this morning died. Thankfully, it was after I got a couple of photos of our new Mayor and his wife. I interpreted the battery dying, as god's invisible message, giving me permission to go home, before I froze to death.

In the photo above or at right you can see a number of well known, former and current, NYC and NYS government officials. Starting from the first row in the lower left corner, wearing a green coat is Governor Kathy Hochul, to her right is NYS Attorney General Letitia James, fashionably dressed in a camel-colored coat wearing a beret, to her right is U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez in a dark coat and to her right are U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife. Above and just right of Sanders is former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is standing to the right of former Mayor Adams [his head is buried underneath a newsie cap] and his friend, Tracey Collins. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, who did not endorse Mamdani, is on Adams' left.

I shambled to the subway station at City Hall, passing through the garrison of NYPD officers who were also enduring the piercing winds, and numbing and bone chilling cold. They seemed better dressed than I for the weather, as I'd not attended such a frigid, hours-long, outdoor event, since the January 5, 1985 NFL Playoff game between the NY Giants and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Today, at City Hall in NYC, it was 27 degrees, with 14 - 16 mph wind gusts, and a wind chill temperature that ranged from 8 - 18 degrees. As I had no cap, and nothing to break the wind from coming through my jacket and jersey, my arms and legs started shivering continuously, before I decided to go home.

On the subway my fingers and toes began to thaw. At first there was some pain as the blood started circulating through them, bringing back the warmth they had recently lost. The same thawing began to come over me mentally, as I pondered my own life on the ride home, as I thought about our new Mayor.

Zohran Mamdani's Inauguration Speech January 1, 2026 in Fotos

One of the things that struck me is that as Zohran is an immigrant, who was born on the other side of the world in Uganda, in Africa; he doesn't just see himself in the context of us 8.5 million New Yorkers who live here, nor does he limit his view of us collectively to the 342 million Americans we are, but rather sees us as a plantery whole of 8.3 billion Earthlings, of which NYC represents 1/10th of 1% of the planet population.

What Mamdani had to say and some context for it follows.

• CLICK here to view the rest of our report on the Inauguration of Zohan Mamdani at City Hall in NYC on January 1, 2026 including photos.

NYC News & Weekend Briefs / News Analysis & Opinion

Stagflation, Adams Tepid Endorsements but Strong Real Estate Funding, & U.S. Taxpayers Funding Israeli Expansionism and Efforts to Deprive Palestinians of a Homeland

August 15, 2025 / NYC Business & Economy / NYC Politics & Government / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Stagflation May be Headed our Way

It Looks Like We May be Heading for a Stagflation Economy. According to 8.15.25 Yahoo Finance report, wholesale prices rose faster than expectations, up 0.9% in July, far faster than expectations. The core rate grew 3.7% vs an expected 3%. The Fed target rate is 2%. Services, not goods, were the driving force behind the inflation increase, and services are not tied to tariffs. We might be heading into a stagflation economy, where inflation continues or picks up, while jobs growth slows, as happened this month.

The contributors to a staglationary economy include that the U.S. dollar has lost 10% of its value since the beginning of the year. This means everything purchased outside of the U.S. will essentially cost 10% more to Americans. And tariffs will eventually add further to the inflation problem by increasing the cost of goods further.

TV News doesn't seem to understand that there's a lag time between when changes in the economy occur [like tariffs or currency valuation changes], and when the impact of them shows up at the cash register. Macroeconomic lag times range from three to eighteen months as these changes work their way through the economy. And speaking of TV News, it's worth mentioning that a stagflationary economy would be just the opposite of the 'Trump Economy' touted by Fox News during the Fall 2024 campaign cycle. For details see - https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-hotter-than-expected-wholesale-prices-make-the-feds-september-rate-cut-decision-harder-155711746.html

Eric Adams Support Seems Fueled by Narrow Self Interests

Is Eric Adams Recycling Faith Based Campaign Endorsements? About a week ago, Eric Adams announced that he was being endorsed by 100 faith based leaders. The endorsements appeared to come from some of the same people who've been supporting Adams all along, some of whom I've seen at various mayoral events, and some of whom I believe stood with him when he announced his re-election bid as an Independent in June of 2025.

Earlier this week Adams also picked up an endorsement from former NYS Democrat Governor Paterson, who is legally blind, and who switched his allegiance from Cuomo in the Democratic primary, to Adams running as an Independent.

A group of police unions also endorsed Adams this week, but notably missing was the largest NYC police union, the NYPBA. The NYPBA had previously endorsed Adams in the 2021 election, reportedly unenthusiastically. This may be why the NYPBA is holding back their endorsement again, or it could be that the NY Patrolmens Benevolent Association union is not happy that Adams has sullied the name of the NYPD, having been charged in a lawsuit with turning the NYPD into his own personal "racketeering enterprise".

• CLICK here to read the rest of our NYC News & Weekend Briefs regarding possible Stagflation, Adams, Mamdani & Israeli takes steps for deny Palestinians a homeland using U.S. taxpayer aid.

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NYC Mayoral Race Tightens

Candidates Mamadani & Lander Cross Endorse Each Other

June 13, 2025 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Politics Media & Government / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

On Friday, the top two NYC Mayoral contenders to Andrew Cuomo - Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander - cross endorsed each other for Mayor. This should help both of them as contenders and according to one pundit, reduces Cuomo's sure lock on the Mayoralty from 80% down to 60%. Which means Mamdani and Lander need to reach out to other NYC Mayoral candidates who realistically are no longer contenders, like Zellnor Myrie, Michael Blake, Jessica Ramos, and Jim Walden [running as an anti-corruption Independent] to increase their odds, while detracting from Cuomo's.

The photos above or at right were taken earlier this year at two different debates. On the left is NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and on the right is NYS Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani - the top two contenders for NYC Mayor following Andrew Cuomo. On Friday they cross endorsed each other, which will likely lead to increased TV ad spending by big real estate on their also-ran, straw horse candidates [see below]; as well as increased TV ad spending for attack ads trying to discredit real challengers to big real estate's choice for Mayor - Andrew Cuomo. Most TV political ads are such distortions of the truth, that they seem to be more fake news than informative.

Please do your homework on the candidates, using some of the high quality information sources below, to move up the learning curve on who the candidates are and who's funding them. TV News doesn't cut it any more, as it's controlled by billionaires. A long while ago, they rolled back FCC regulations requiring fair and balanced reporting, which is why what TV News presents today, is no longer consistently credible.

CLICK here to read the rest of our report on Mamdani & Lander cross endorse in NYC Mayoral Race 2025.