New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani referred repeatedly to the Old and New Testaments at a politically charged breakfast of faith leaders held at the New York Public Library on Friday. 

The city’s mayor, who took office on January 1, used his platform at the Annual Interfaith Breakfast to promote his administration’s policy toward immigrants. Mayor Mamdani, who is Muslim, was raised by a Muslim father and a Hindu mother. He talked about the manifestations of faith he encountered in New York while campaigning.

“I saw faith everywhere: on subways and street corners, at forums and front doors. And increasingly, as the winter snow melted into the renewal of spring and then the heat of summer, I found it where many New Yorkers return week after week in search of meaning. You welcomed this stranger into your sanctuaries, and whether we were together at shul, at church services on a Saturday or Sunday morning, at a gurdwara or a mosque or a mandir or a temple, New Yorkers told me of the work they hold close, the dreams that they refused to let go.” 

He quoted from Deuteronomy 10:17-18 in describing his view of the type of city he wants New York to be: “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” 

Mayor Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and moved to New York when he was seven, reinforced the idea of aiding “strangers” and “foreigners,” as the scripture passages he quoted refer to them, by referring to Exodus 23:9: “Thou shalt not oppress a stranger, for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” 

He also quoted Dr. Martin Luther King in saying, “The church is the one place where a doctor ought to forget that he’s a doctor. The church is the one place where a lawyer ought to forget that he’s a lawyer. When the church is true to its nature, it says, ‘Whosoever will, let him come.'” 

The mayor made no mention of the installation of Archbishop Ronald Hicks, which took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral later that day. However, he welcomed Archbishop Hicks in a post on X Friday afternoon: “Congratulations to Archbishop Ronald Hicks on today’s installment and welcome to New York City. 

“I know that Archbishop Hicks and I share a deep and abiding commitment to the dignity of every human being and look forward to working together to create a more just and compassionate city where every New Yorker can thrive,” the post said. 

At his press conference on February 6, Archbishop Hicks said he had not yet had an opportunity to meet or talk with the city’s new mayor. 

The Interfaith Breakfast features about 500 representatives from all faiths from New York City’s five boroughs. There were no Roman Catholic speakers as part of this year’s main program.