Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Correcting the record: Zohran Mamdani believes he is 112th NYC mayor
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Stephen Rex Brown
Published Dec 17, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Stephen Rex Brown
Published Dec 17, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Zohran Mamdani indicated Wednesday he will right a historic wrong upon taking office by being sworn in as New York City's 112th mayor, rather than the 111th.
Mamdani’s comments came in response to Gothamist’s recent coverage of a historian’s discovery that a 17th century mayor’s second nonconsecutive term is not reflected in the official record, resulting in a mayoral miscount across centuries. Mamdani referenced a tweet by the city’s Department of Records that confirmed the miscount, meaning Mamdani is the 112th mayor.
“Well, I thought I was going to be the 111th. I think the City's Department of Records tweeted out in fact that I will be the 112th, and I am excited to be whichever mayor it is,” Mamdani said.
Asked whether that meant he would have inaugural banners that read 112th mayor, Mamdani responded “I trust that tweet.”
It's yet unclear how the official count of mayors will be updated to reflect Mayor Matthias Nicolls' second one-year term in 1674. As recently as Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams described himself as the 110th mayor – when in fact he is the 111th.
Inserting Nicolls’ second term would bump the sequence of each subsequent mayor by one, making Fiorello LaGuardia the 100th mayor instead of the 99th. David Dinkins would be the 107th mayor instead of the 106th.
There is a precedent for a correction to the official list of mayors. In 1937, Charles Lodwick, who served from 1694-1695, was inserted as the 21st mayor.
Tagged
Politics
new york city
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
Read more
Stephen Rex Brown
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .