Zohran Mamdani was a trailblazing candidate whom many in his city of 8 million — some with hope, some with trepidation — expect to be a disruptive New York mayor.

The democratic socialist’s plans for his first day in office on Thursday nod to his politics and priorities, without straying far from his predecessors with a sober official midnight oath-taking followed by a more celebratory ceremony in the afternoon.

New York law spells out that four-year mayoral terms start on the January 1 after elections. To avoid any ambiguity about who’s in charge of America’s most populous city, it has become a tradition to hold a small midnight swearing-in.

Mamdani has chosen as the site of his midnight oath the Old City Hall subway stop, which was decommissioned in the middle of the previous century and is accessible only a few times a year through guided tours.

The subway site, according to Mamdani’s transition team, reflects his “commitment to the working people who keep our city running every........

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