Mayor-elect leaves Astoria apartment for historic mayoral residence amid playful warnings from departing mayor
<h3>From Queens to the Upper East Side</h3> <p>Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday that he will move into Gracie Mansion with his wife Rama Duwaji after his New Year’s Day inauguration, ending weeks of speculation about whether he would occupy the historic official residence of New York City’s mayor. According to Gothamist and THE CITY reporting, Mamdani cited family safety concerns and the need to focus completely on implementing his affordability agenda as reasons for the decision. The move will take him from a rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, where he pays approximately $2,300 per month, to the 11,000-square-foot mansion along the East River in Manhattan’s Yorkville neighborhood.</p> <p>The decision represents both a practical choice and a symbolic moment for a democratic socialist who campaigned against wealth inequality and ran on a platform of housing justice. As Al Jazeera noted in its coverage, the contrast between Mamdani’s modest Astoria apartment and Gracie Mansiondescribed by U.S. media as worth $100 millionmay seem striking to observers. However, Mamdani framed the move primarily in terms of security and functionality. In his statement reported by Gothamist, he said, “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.” For historical information about New York City mayors, the NYC Mayor’s Office (https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor) maintains archival resources.</p> <h3>Adams’ Playful Ghost Warnings</h3> <p>Adding a touch of humor to the transition, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams warned Mamdani about alleged supernatural inhabitants at Gracie Mansion. According to reporting from DNyuz and Geo News, Adams told reporters during a Tuesday visit to Washington, D.C., “Beware of the ghost. I told [Zohran] about it. So the ghost is there. It’s a friendly ghost, as long as you’re doing right by the city. If you don’t become right by the city, he turns into a poltergeist.” Adams has repeatedly proclaimed during his tenure that the 226-year-old residence is haunted, telling Yankees announcers in 2022, “I don’t care what anyone says, there are ghosts in there, man. Listen, they’re creeping around.”</p> <p>Adams’ ghost claims became such a persistent part of Gracie Mansion lore that some observers suggested they contributed to his own reluctance to stay there full-time during his mayoralty. According to THE CITY’s reporting, even former First Lady Chirlane McCray, who was married to Mayor Bill de Blasio, reported unusual experiences, saying there were times when “doors open and close by themselves” and hearing whispers believed to be from Elizabeth Wolcott Gracie, the daughter-in-law of the mansion’s original owner who died there in 1819. The mansion has seen at least two deaths in its history, with Susan Wagner, wife of former Mayor Robert Wagner, also dying there in 1964 after battling lung cancer. The Gracie Mansion Conservancy (https://www.graciemansionconservancy.org/) maintains the historic property and offers public tours.</p> <h3>A Bittersweet Farewell to Astoria</h3> <p>Despite the practical advantages of Gracie Mansion, Mamdani expressed genuine emotion about leaving his Astoria neighborhood. In his statement cited by THE CITY, he wrote, “We will miss much about our home in Astoria. Cooking dinner side by side in our kitchen, sharing a sleepy elevator ride with our neighbors in the evening, hearing music and laughter vibrate through the walls of the apartment.” He specifically thanked his neighbors: “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.”</p> <p>The mayor-elect’s Astoria apartment became a point of political contention during the campaign. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo attempted to make Mamdani’s rent-stabilized residence an attack point, arguing that someone earning a state Assembly salary of $142,000 was taking an apartment away from people in need. Cuomo even proposed what he called “Zohran’s Law” to set income restrictions on rent-stabilized apartments. However, as THE CITY reported, The Real Deal found that Mamdani’s rent was actually typical for the neighborhood. The controversy highlighted broader debates about income eligibility for rent stabilization and who deserves affordable housing in New York City. Research from the Community Service Society of New York (https://www.cssny.org/) documents housing affordability challenges.</p> <h3>Gracie Mansion’s Rich History</h3> <p>Gracie Mansion represents one of New York City’s most significant historic properties. According to multiple sources including The Mirror and Yahoo News, the mansion is one of the oldest surviving wood structures in Manhattan, dating back to 1799 when prosperous merchant Archibald Gracie built it. The War of 1812 forced Gracie to sell the home in 1823, and it changed hands several times before the City of New York appropriated the estate in 1896. For a time, the property served less glamorous purposes, even functioning as a concession stand and public restrooms before being restored.</p> <p>Parks Commissioner Robert Moses later designated Gracie Mansion as the official residence of the mayor. Fiorello H. La Guardia and his family were the first to move into the residence in 1942, driven by safety concerns associated with World War II. La Guardia called it the “Little White House,” a nickname that persists. As noted by The Mirror, La Guardia had initially resisted living there, but World War II security concerns changed his calculus. Paul Gunther, former executive director of the Gracie Mansion Conservancy, told Gothamist in 2021 that it was “safer and easier to escape, were that necessary, from a blitzkrieg.” The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation (https://www.nycgovparks.org/) manages Carl Schurz Park where the mansion is located.</p> <h3>Recent Mayoral Residents and Their Choices</h3> <p>Since becoming the official mayoral residence in 1942, most New York mayors have lived at Gracie Mansion, though with varying degrees of enthusiasm. As reported by Al Jazeera and Yahoo News, Mayor Ed Koch initially kept his Greenwich Village apartment but eventually moved in full-time, later admitting, “I said you can get used to posh very quickly, and I got used to it.” Koch also solicited private donations to furnish the mansion in the Federal style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and borrowed notable artwork, including a 44-inch-high black-and-white rabbit sculpture for the bedroom.</p> <p>The most notable exception was Michael Bloomberg, who never lived in the mansion during his three terms as mayor, choosing to remain in his private, more opulent townhouse on 79th Street just a short distance away. However, Bloomberg invested approximately $7 million of his own money to restore the building, including repainting walls, doors, and frames in their original colors, according to Ynet News. Bill de Blasio and his family lived there, though de Blasio found it more like a museum than a home when he arrived, with bedrooms filled with antique furniture from Bloomberg’s renovations. De Blasio received donations of at least $65,000 in furniture from West Elm in 2014 to make the family bedrooms more livable. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/) documents the mansion’s architectural and historical significance.</p> <h3>The Mansion’s Features and Operations</h3> <p>Mamdani and his wife will be moving from a one-bedroom apartment into an 11,000-square-foot residence with five bedrooms and five bathrooms, along with a ballroom, sprawling lawn, rows of apple and fig trees, a vegetable garden with roaming rabbits, and a full-time chef serving residents and their guests. The mansion is painted butter yellow with green shutters and white railings, sitting at the corner of East 88th Street and East End Avenue in Carl Schurz Park. According to The Mirror and other sources, the property has a gated entrance operated by the NYPD along with additional securitya crucial consideration given that Mamdani’s campaign hired its own security after he faced death threats.</p> <p>The Gracie Mansion Conservancy, a nonprofit organization, spends approximately $400,000 of privately raised money annually to run and manage the house, according to tax documents cited by Yahoo News. The mansion is also known as the “People’s House” because it serves all New Yorkers, with public tours available on Mondays for $10, allowing residents to learn about the property’s rich history. Over the past two centuries, the mansion has hosted numerous historical figures including John Quincy Adams, Washington Irving, General Lafayette, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Frederick Douglass. The Museum of the City of New York (https://www.mcny.org/) maintains exhibits on New York City history including mayoral residences.</p> <h3>Political Symbolism and Practical Realities</h3> <p>Mamdani’s decision to live at Gracie Mansion rather than maintain his modest Astoria apartment addresses both security concerns and the practical realities of serving as mayor of a city of 8.3 million people. The mansion provides not just residential space but also facilities for hosting official events, meeting with constituents and dignitaries, and conducting city business. The NYPD security presence and gated entrance offer protection that would be difficult to replicate at a typical apartment building, particularly important given the threats Mamdani received during the campaign.</p> <p>However, there may be symbolic costs to moving from a rent-stabilized apartment in Queens to a mansion on the Upper East Side. Mamdani’s image as a democratic socialist who understands working-class struggles partly derived from his modest lifestyle and Queens residency. Living in one of Manhattan’s most exclusive neighborhoods, albeit in an official capacity, could create some distance from that working-class identity. Mamdani’s statement emphasized that “Astoria will always live inside me and the work I do,” suggesting he recognizes the need to maintain connection to his roots even while residing in very different circumstances. Research from the New School’s Schwartz Center (https://www.newschool.edu/public-engagement/) examines political symbolism and representation.</p> <h3>Voter Registration and Political Implications</h3> <p>An interesting political detail noted by THE CITY is that Mamdani will change his voter registration to his new Manhattan home, making him and his wife the latest residents of the 12th congressional district, currently represented by longtime Congressman Jerry Nadler. This district is the site of a crowded primary election, and while Mamdani presumably won’t be a candidate himself, his residence in the district could influence local political dynamics. Some observers have speculated about Mamdani’s future political ambitions beyond the mayoralty, though such speculation is premature given he hasn’t yet taken office.</p> <h3>Looking Ahead to January</h3> <p>As Mamdani prepares to move into Gracie Mansion in January, the question of ghosts aside, he faces the substantial challenge of governing New York City while residing in a building steeped in political history. Every previous mayor who lived there confronted this balance between the mansion’s ceremonial significance and the need to make it feel like home. Mamdani’s experience will be shaped not only by the physical space but by his ability to use the platform it provideshosting community members, conducting city business, and demonstrating that a democratic socialist mayor can inhabit this symbol of New York’s political establishment while remaining true to progressive principles. The success of this balancing act will be measured not in supernatural encounters but in Mamdani’s effectiveness at delivering on the affordability agenda that won him the election. Organizations like StreetEasy (https://streeteasy.com/) provide data on New York City neighborhoods and housing markets for context on residential patterns across the city.</p>
