Watch Lucy Dacus perform at Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as New York Mayor
Lucy Dacus performed ‘Bread and Roses’ at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration on New Year’s Day.
Mamdani was elected as the 112th mayor of New York in November after a hugely successful campaign that saw him comfortably beat former governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
He was then sworn in at midnight on January 1st at a disused subway station, before a public inauguration ceremony took place later in the day, which attracted huge crowds.
At the event, Dacus, joined by keyboardist Sarah Goldstone, performed ‘Bread and Roses’ which was originally written in 1911 by James Oppenheim, before singer-songwriter Mimi Fariña turned it into a folk anthem in 1974.
The Boygenius member has been a prominent supporter of Mamdani throughout his campaign, and even welcomed him to the stage at All Things Go in September.
Other performers at the inauguration included Javier Muñoz, Mandy Patinkin, the PS 22 Chorus of Staten Island and Babbulicious.
During his speech, Mamdani said a “moment like this comes rarely and rarer still is it that the people themselves whose hands are upon the levers of change”.
He also vowed to remain committed to making progressive change in New York, stating, “The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations. Beginning today we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try.”
The Democrat continued, “I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being called radical.”
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