New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced criticism last week after becoming the first sitting mayor in decades — and possibly the first in nearly a century — to skip the formal installation of the city’s new Catholic archbishop, breaking a longstanding civic tradition, as reported by The New York Post.

On Friday, Ronald Hicks, 58, was formally installed as the 11th archbishop of the New York Archdiocese since 1850.

The ceremony took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and marked the transfer of leadership from Timothy Dolan in a service attended by clergy, civic leaders, and a packed congregation.

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For decades, attendance by the sitting New York City mayor has been customary.

That tradition dates back at least to 1939, when then-Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia attended the installation of Francis Spellman. Mayors of varying religious backgrounds have continued the practice ever since.

Mamdani did not attend the ceremony. Instead, he acknowledged the event with a brief post on X later that afternoon.

“Congratulations to Archbishop Ronald Hicks on today’s installment and welcome to New York City,” Mamdani wrote.

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“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.”

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City Hall did not immediately respond to multiple inquiries about the mayor’s absence. After publication, a City Hall spokesperson said Mamdani had a scheduling conflict and sent a deputy mayor, who is Catholic, in his place.

The spokesperson added that Mamdani and Hicks were expected to speak the following Tuesday.

Criticism intensified after it emerged that Mamdani had attended an interfaith prayer breakfast earlier that morning at the New York Public Library.

The installation ceremony began at 2 p.m., while the mayor’s publicly released schedule listed only the breakfast at 10 a.m. and a winter weather press conference at 4 p.m.

The Catholic League issued a statement condemning the mayor’s decision.

“Mamdani has been in office for just over a month, and already he is signaling to Catholics that they are not welcome,” the group said.

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“The mayor of New York City traditionally attends the installation of the new archbishop of New York, but Mamdani — who was invited — ghosted the event.”

The league noted that the ceremony took place only hours after the prayer breakfast and was within walking distance. “He could easily have been there. Instead, he attended to business as usual,” the statement said.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who is Catholic, did not attend the ceremony either. She was in Syracuse at the time, formally accepting the Democratic nomination for another term.

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Bill Cunningham, a former top adviser to Michael Bloomberg, who attended Cardinal Dolan’s installation in 2009, described Mamdani’s absence as a mistake.

“It was a missed opportunity for the mayor to show he wants to serve all the segments of the city,” Cunningham said. “There are certain institutions the mayor of New York might want to take note of. One of them is the Catholic Church.”

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Past mayors across party lines and faiths have attended similar ceremonies, including Ed Koch, who was present for the 1984 installation of Cardinal John O’Connor, and Rudy Giuliani, who attended the installation of Cardinal Edward Egan in 2000.

Ken Frydman, a former spokesman for Giuliani, also criticized Mamdani’s absence. “I thought Mamdani only disdains Jews who like Israel,” Frydman said. “Turns out, he also disdains Italian, Irish, and other Catholic New Yorkers.”

The New York Archdiocese spans Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island, and several counties north of the city and is home to an estimated 2.5 million Catholics.

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