Despite having been elected last month as New York's brand new mayor, a historian has claimed that Zohran Mamdani likely won't ever be sworn in as the city's 111th official leader.
The 34-year-old politician made history for a number of reasons following his November victory - including becoming the city's first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage, and the first born in Africa.
On top of this, Mamdani also became the first Millennial to take on the powerful position, with his wife, Rama Duwaji, also becoming New York's first-ever Gen Z first lady, at just 28.
While Mamdani mightn't have yet won over Donald Trump - who previously branded him a '100 percent communist lunatic' and a 'total nut job' - his constituents can't wait for his official takeover on 1 January 2026.
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However, despite his impressive victory, there are rumours that Mamdani will never actually become the Big Apple's 111th mayor, officially.
The speculation was first sparked by history buff Paul Hortenstine, who alleged that an error which occurred back in the 1600s means that Mamdani should technically be categorised as NYC's 112th mayor.
His discovery was inadvertently made while researching connections between the city's former leaders and the slave trade.
In findings that have also been affirmed by a number of Hortenstine's fellow historians, as well as several historical groups, Matthias Nicolls, the city's sixth mayor, didn't just serve in the position for a singular term.
In fact, Nicolls - whose family settled in Long Island in the 17th century and owned much of the land in this area - took on the role twice, once in 1672, and again in 1675.
As is the case with US presidents, the second term, having been broken up by another mayor, should have been counted again.
His secret second term was only recorded in an archive of papers of Edmund Andros, who served as the colonial governor of New York at the time. As such, Mamdani should actually consider himself New York's 112th mayor, not the 111th.
On top of this, it means that every single one of his political predecessors (other than the first six) are off by one.
Washington DC-based Hortenstine has since gotten in touch with the mayor's official office, demanding that a correction be made. "This was in 1675," he added of Nicolls' latter term. "So then, when I later looked through the official list of the city, I noticed that they had missed this term."
Further research previously carried out by historian Peter R. Christoph supported this allegation.
In his 1989 essay, Record of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Christoph wrote: "Edward I. Koch is the 105th Mayor of New York. The City Of New York Official Directory says so. So does The New York Times. But they are wrong: He is the 106th."
The expert continued: "Not only is he misnumbered, but so is everyone else after Mayor No. Seven. It is a mind-boggling thought: 99 mayors misnumbered, most of them gone to the grave, secure in the knowledge of their place in history, but all of them numerically out of whack.
"How could such a thing happen?"
Whether New York lawmakers will respond to these conversations, as well as what this means for Mamdani, is yet to be determined.
Topics: Zohran Mamdani, Politics, US News
Rhianna Benson