Wrong number.
Zohran Mamdani won’t be New York City’s 111th mayor as frequently described — he’ll actually be its 112th, historians contend.
A deep dive into the Big Apple’s dusty records recently confirmed its mayors have been misnumbered for centuries, according to city Department of Records researcher Michael Lorenzini.
The official list of city leaders failed to note the second, non-consecutive term of Mayor Matthias Nicolls from 1674 to 1675 — an error that caused the Hizzoner count to be off by one, Lorenzini detailed in a blog post last week.
“One thing for certain is he is not Mayor 111,” he wrote about Mamdani.
The mayoral miscount had been noted by archivists as far back as 1989, but came to public prominence with the research of historian Paul Hortenstine, first highlighted by Gothamist early this month.
Hortenstine discovered records referencing Nicolls’ forgotten second term, a revelation that took added importance as Mamdani clinched victory in the Nov. 4 election and is poised to take office on New Year’s Day.
The research done by Lorenzini confirmed the miscount, and attributed it to a “hiccup” in the city’s early history.
The city in 1673 briefly returned to Dutch control after years as an English colony, leaving it without an actual “Mayor of New York,” Lorenzini wrote.
The colony went back to the English in 1674, with Nicolls — who previously served as mayor — being reappointed to the leadership post.
“Moreover, Nicolls had not been Mayor when the Dutch invaded, his successor, John Lawrence, had assumed that role,” Lorenzini wrote. “So, by all rights, Nicolls served two non-consecutive terms with another Mayor in the middle, making him Mayor #6 and #8.”
Lorenzini noted the Hizzoner count — as documented in the city’s “Green Book” — does not include Dutch mayoral analogues called “Burgomasters” or those later who served as “acting mayors.”
Counting the Dutch Burgomasters as mayors, for example, could make Mamdani the city’s 133th chief executive, Lorenzini wrote.
“The initial question was, should Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani be counted as the 111th or 112th? But the answer has proven far more complex,” he wrote.
“By our current Anglo-centric numbering practice (not including Acting Mayors) it does appear that on January 1, 2026, Mayor Mamdani should be Mayor number 112,” Lorenzini said.
Mamdani’s team didn’t return a request for comment, nor did Department of Records officials.
— Additional reporting by Matthew Fischetti
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