NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces he will live in Gracie Mansion

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, have decided to move from their one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, to historic Gracie Mansion following the inauguration in January, it was announced Monday.

In a statement, Mamdani said he’ll miss cooking dinner "side by side" with his wife in their Astoria kitchen — and also will miss "sharing a sleepy elevator ride" with neighbors. He said he’d also miss "hearing music and laughter vibrate through the walls of the apartment."

Built in 1799, Gracie Mansion sits in Carl Schurz Park at East End Avenue and 88th Street in Manhattan.

It became the official mayoral residence in 1942, when Fiorello LaGuardia moved in, and every mayor since has lived there at some point during his tenure — with the exception of Michael Bloomberg.

In his statement, Mamdani said: "To Astoria: thank you for showing us the best of New York City. We have called this neighborhood home as our city weathered a devastating pandemic, cruel attacks on immigrants, and years of an affordability crisis. Time and again, this community has shown up for one another. We will miss it all — the endless Adeni chai, the spirited conversations in Spanish, Arabic and every language in between, the aromas of seafood and shawarma drifting down the block.

"This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for.

"My priority, always, is serving the people who call this city home. I will be a mayor for the line cooks on Steinway, for the children swinging at Dutch Kills Playground, for the bus riders waiting for the Q101. While I may no longer live in Astoria, Astoria will always live inside me and the work I do."

The couple pays $2,300 a month to rent the rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment on 35th St. The building has six stories and 52 units, was built in 1929, with few frills besides an elevator, according to the real estate website StreetEasy, which Mamdani said he used to find his apartment years ago when he was making $47,000.

Newsday's Matthew Chayes contributed to this story.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.