DL Open Thread: Thursday, January 1, 2026

Zohran Mamdani Sworn In As New Mayor Of NYC:

Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City soon after midnight in a private ceremony in an abandoned beaux-arts subway station – a prelude to daylong celebrations set to include a second, public swearing-in and a block party outside city hall.

Mamdani, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, surrounded by wife, Rama Duwaji, members of his immediate family, including Mira Nair, his mother and a film-maker, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African studies at Columbia University.

“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.

“I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow as we begin our term.

The midnight ceremony will be followed by a 1pm public event at which the new mayor will be introduced by political ally and Bronx Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and sworn in by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.

Mamdani’s office has said the choice to be sworn in at the old city hall subway station reflected his “commitment to the working people who keep our city running every day”.

“When Old City Hall Station first opened in 1904 – one of New York’s 28 original subway stations – it was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working people’s lives,” Mamdani said in a statement.

“That ambition need not be a memory confined only to our past.”

Former Stone Balloon Owner Involved In Wife’s Murder? I don’t think that I was ever in the Stone Balloon, but people have been e-mailing me about this:

Linda Stevenson, the wife of Jill Biden’s ex-husband, Bill Stevenson, was found dead in her Delaware home on Dec. 28.

Linda was 64, according to a statement from the New Castle County Police Department. Her body was discovered by authorities on Dec. 28 at approximately 11:16 p.m. local time, according to the press release. Police “responded to a reported domestic dispute at a residence in the 1300 block of Idlewood Road in the community of Oak Hill,” per the release.

A ‘Housing First’ Model To Address Homelessness in Delaware.  Opposed by, who else, the Trump Administration:

Last month, a who’s who of New Castle County power brokers milled about the lobby of what once was a Sheraton hotel. With melodies from a jazz trio playing softly in the background, they celebrated the fifth anniversary of turning the hotel into the Hope Center homeless shelter.

In the floors above, scores of people who previously had been homeless were likely winding down their days.  Among them were 17 veterans and chronically homeless people who live on the fifth floor and call the Hope Center their permanent home.

Those fifth-floor rooms are critical to combatting Delaware’s growing housing crisis, say advocates, because they are some of the few examples in the state of supportive housing, which provides a permanent place to stay along with services, such as doctor’s visits and addiction treatment.

But in recent months, that model has been challenged by federal government officials who are pulling back dollars for that type of housing, even as local advocates say it should be expanded. 

“Those resources are super, super limited and not meeting most of the people out there who need them,” said Rachel Stucker, executive director of the Housing Alliance of Delaware.

Supportive housing is an example of a “housing first” model, which provides permanent housing to homeless people without requiring sobriety or mental health treatment.

Stucker said this model works because it is difficult to address mental health or addiction issues without first having a stable place to live.

But the Trump administration, which supplies money for housing programs in all 50 states, argues that funding transitional housing programs with time limits and mandates for mental health and addiction treatment is a better approach. 

In response to such arguments, Delaware State Housing Authority Director Matthew Heckles said government officials already tried requiring homeless people to get sober and be treated for mental health before being sheltered, and it was not effective.

The results were that people simply chose – or were forced – to stay on the streets, he said.

“They’re basically going back in time and saying, ‘These things that we know don’t work, that’s how we think you should do things,’” Heckles said.

What do you want to talk about?