Citing security concerns, the mayor-elect says he and his wife are giving up their rent-stabilized Astoria apartment and will live in Gracie Mansion.

Photo: Seth Wenig

Zohran Mamdani is on the move.

On Monday, the mayor-elect confirmed that he and his wife will be moving into Gracie Mansion, leaving their rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria for the historic mayoral residence on the Upper East Side.

“My wife Rama and I have made the decision to move into Gracie Mansion in January. 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 said in a statement.

Went to the NY Botanical Garden’s train show last week, and saw our new home! pic.twitter.com/KNdDXkCyHE

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) December 8, 2025

For years, Mamdani has lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, a modest home in comparison to the 11,000 square feet that he will soon occupy. In the immediate aftermath of his Election Night victory, Mamdani was notably noncommittal about whether he planned to move into Gracie Mansion, suggesting that he and his family had yet to decide. “I don’t yet have an answer on where I’m going to be living. But I can tell you where I’m going to be working, and that’s City Hall,” he said in an interview with NY1.

But Mamdani said the decision ultimately 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.”

“While I may no longer live in Astoria, Astoria will always live inside me and the work I do,” he said.

Mamdani’s home borough had been a centerpiece of his insurgent mayoral campaign. One of his earliest campaign videos was centered on Hillside Avenue in Queens, as well as Fordham Road in the Bronx, as he stopped New Yorkers on the street to ask them why they supported President Donald Trump. The clip instantly went viral and helped to propel the largely unknown assemblymember to front-runner status in a matter of months.

But focusing on where the incoming mayor might lay their head is hardly a new phenomenon. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg notably eschewed living in the historic home throughout his three terms, opting to stay in his Upper East Side townhouse while spearheading an extensive renovation of the building. In 2013, Bill de Blasio publicly announced his family’s plan to move to Gracie Mansion, calling it a “temporary move” from their Park Slope residence and similarly citing “logistical and security concerns.” And while Eric Adams did move into the mayoral residence following his election, questions have long lingered about whether the mayor spent the bulk of his time at his Bed-Stuy home or an apartment he shared with his partner in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

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