At Zohran Mamdani’s block party, I observed a simple truth: people want more politics, not less | Samuel Earle

Years of scandal and disappointment have left a void in our politics. But New York's new mayor offers an alternative to more apathy: hope

On 1 January, to mark his inauguration as mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani threw a block party. As he was sworn in outside city hall in front of a crowd of a few thousand of us, a nearby street in Manhattan was closed to traffic so that tens of thousands more could gather to watch the historic moment live on enormous screens. The weather - a cloudless blue sky and arctic winds - felt somehow fitting: a licence to dream and a warning against complacency.

Mayors don't usually take office amid such a festival atmosphere. A smaller, more exclusive event is normally adequate. But a key feature of Mamdani's rise has been the desire for mass participation in politics. There was no chance this day was going to pass without an open-invitation party.