Serbian students blockade a Danube bridge overnight as anti-graft movement grows

NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — Serbian students on Sunday blocked a bridge over the River Danube in the northern city of Novi Sad for over 24 hours as part of their growing anti-graft movement demanding major changes in the Balkan country.

Dozens of farmers parked their tractors by the Most Slobode, or Freedom Bridge, saying they wanted to guard the students from incidents and potential attacks by sympathizers of Serbia's powerful President Aleksandar Vucic. Novi Sad residents brought them tea and coffee, pancakes, pastry and cooked food.

The protesters decided to extend their protest for three additional hours while they cleaned up the area where they had been holding their colorful rally since Saturday. Thousands of people joined them on Sunday in a continuing show of support.

University students in Serbia are leading a massive anti-corruption movement that was triggered by the Nov. 1. collapse of a concrete canopy at the central train station in Novi Sad, killing 15 people.

Critics believe graft led to a sloppy job during the reconstruction of the train station, poor oversight and disrespect of safety regulations. The issue has come to symbolize a wider discontent over the rule of law in Serbia.

"Well, the only way to end this (protest) is that our all demands are met," said student Lucija Maslakovic. The students have demanded a thorough investigation, the publication of all documents related to the railway station renovation, and punishment for those responsible for the canopy collapse.

Daily protests throughout Serbia pose a major challenge for Vucic. The student-led movement already forced the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, Vucic's ally, and the government earlier this week.

In his regular address against the student protests, Vucic on Sunday again delivered a mixed message, offering talks with striking university professors while issuing veiled treats against the demonstrators.

Indirectly accusing the protesters of working for foreign interests with the ultimate goal of toppling him by force, Vucic said on Instagram that the country cannot be ruled by someone chosen from outside the country.

“We don’t need governments imposed from the outside … without elections and without the will of the people,” he said.

Tightly controlled pro-government media have mostly ignored the protests, occasionally carrying fake news and photos that show empty streets and claiming that the Novi Sad rally was a “disaster” because of what they said was low turnout.

The state broadcaster RTS made a surprise exception on Saturday and carried live coverage of the protest in Novi Sad that was attended by tens of thousands.

Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party was quick to react, strongly condemning the “scandalous coverage" of the bridge blockades. The party said state TV had “violated all the rules and values ​​of objective and impartial journalism with its scandalous reports."

The students stayed at one of the Novi Sad bridges through the night after blocking all three city bridges on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people joined in on Saturday, swarming the streets in further pressure on the governing populists.

“I support them fully. I can’t believe how well they are organized, mature and good,” said Jelena Djordjevic, a university professor from Novi Sad. “They are just incredible.”

The student protest has struck a chord in graft-plagued Serbia, where few citizens feel that state institutions, which are firmly under populist control, are working in the public interest. Many believe that the collapse was essentially caused by government corruption in a large infrastructure project with Chinese state companies.

To pass the time on Saturday evening and overnight, the students played basketball and volleyball, listened to music, played chess or card games. In the morning, they could be seen clearing the garbage ahead of more protests.

Hundreds had walked from Belgrade to Novi Sad for two days ahead of the blockades.

At 11:52 p.m. on Saturday, the protesters held 15 minutes of silence for the 15 dead in the Nov. 1 canopy collapse. Two children were among the victims.

Associated Press writers Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.

Students wave next to the banner reading "Students will set the World free" as they block the Bridge of Freedom and protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Students hold a heart-shaped balloon as they prepare to end the blockage of the Bridge of Freedom and protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of people blocking the Bridge of Freedom during a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A man holds up his mobile phone light during a minute of silence ceremony as he protests over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People hold up their mobile phone lights during a minute of silence ceremony as they block the bridge and protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People hold up their mobile phone lights during a minute of silence ceremony as they block the bridge and protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People hold up their mobile phone lights as tens of thousands gather for a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People hold up their mobile phone lights as tens of thousands gather for a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People hold up their mobile phone lights during a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People hold up their mobile phone lights as tens of thousands gather for a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People rest at a park, while a protest was being held over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed multiple people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

An aerial view of people blocking the Bridge of Freedom during a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A man stands during a minute of silence ceremony as he protests over the collapse of a concrete canopy killed multiple people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People hold up their mobile phone lights during a minute of silence ceremony as they block the bridge during a protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed multiple people more than two months ago, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city's striving, struggling working class.

Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city's first Muslim mayor.

After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.

“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” Mamdani told a cheering crowd.

“To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers' lives," he said.

Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

Mamdani wasted little time getting to work after the event.

He revoked multiple executive orders issued by the previous administration since Sept. 26, 2024, the date federal authorities announced former Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on corruption charges, which were later dismissed following intervention by the Trump administration.

Then he visited an apartment building in Brooklyn to announce he is revitalizing a city office dedicated to protecting tenants and creating two task forces focused on housing construction.

Throughout the daytime ceremony, Mamdani and other speakers hit on the theme that carried him to victory in the election: Using government power to lift up the millions of people who struggle with the city's high cost of living.

Mamdani peppered his remarks with references to those New Yorkers, citing workers in steel-toed boots, halal cart vendors “whose knees ache from working all day” and cooks “wielding a thousand spices."

"I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed ‘radical.’”

Before administering the oath, Sanders told the crowd that most of the things Mamdani wants to do — including raising taxes on the rich — aren't radical at all.

“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” he told the crowd. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”

Mamdani was accompanied on stage by his wife, Rama Duwaji. Adams was also in attendance, sitting near another former mayor, Bill de Blasio.

Actor Mandy Patinkin, who recently hosted Mamdani to celebrate Hannukah, sang “Over the Rainbow” with children from an elementary school chorus. The invocation was given by Imam Khalid Latif, the director of the Islamic Center of New York City. Poet Cornelius Eady read an original poem called “Proof."

In addition to being the city's first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

At the watch party on Broadway, onlookers stood shoulder to shoulder gazing up at several jumbotrons and singing and dancing to stave off the cold, with some passing out hot cocoa and hand warmers. Many described feeling as though they were witnessing history.

Among them was Ariel Segura, a 16-year-old Bronx resident, who had arrived five hours earlier to secure a place near the front of the crowd.

“I’m out here fan-girling a politician, it’s kind of crazy,” he said, wiping away tears as Mamdani concluded his speech. “Now it’s time to hold him accountable.”

In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, Mamdani ran on a focused platform that included promises of free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

Mamdani insisted in his inaugural address that he will not squander his opportunity to implement those policies.

“A moment like this comes rarely. Seldom do we hold such an opportunity to transform and reinvent. Rarer still is it the people themselves whose hands are on the levers of change. And yet we know that too often in our past, moments of great possibility have been promptly surrendered to small imagination and smaller ambition," he said.

But he will also have to face the everyday responsibilities of running America’s largest city: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

In his speech, Mamdani acknowledged the task ahead, saying he knows many will be watching to see whether he can succeed.

“They want to know if the left can govern. They want to know if the struggles that afflict them can be solved. They want to know if it is right to hope again,” he said. “So, standing together with the wind of purpose at our backs, we will do something that New Yorkers do better than anyone else: We will set an example for the world.”

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

Now that he has taken office, Mamdani and his wife will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.

The new mayor inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.

Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents.

In opening remarks to the crowd, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised New Yorkers for choosing “courage over fear.”

“We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,” she said.

During the mayoral race, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.

But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.

Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.

Several speakers at Thursday's inauguration criticized the Trump administration's move to deport more immigrants and expressed hope that Mamdani's City Hall would be an ally to those the president has targeted.

Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.

Still, Mamdani supporters in Thursday's crowd expressed optimism he'd be a unifying force.

“There are moments where everyone in New York comes together, like when the Mets won the World Series in ’86,” said Mary Hammann, 64, a musician with the Metropolitan Opera. “This feels like that — just colder.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. administers the oath of office to Mayor Zohran Mamdani as Rama Duwaji holds the Quran during Mamdani's inauguration ceremony, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after speaking during his inauguration ceremony, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, arrives with his wife Rama Duwaji for a swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (Amir Hamja/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

People wait in the cold near City Hall before Zohran Mamdani's inauguration as mayor on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after arriving for his swearing-in ceremony as Rama Duwaji looks on, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, greets New York Attorney General Letitia James before the swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, left, and his wife Rama Duwaji, arrive for Mamdani's public swearing-in ceremony on the steps of City Hall, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, prepare to administer the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony in the Old City Hall subway station, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Zohran Mamdani reacts after being sworn in as mayor of New York inside the the Old City Hall subway station, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks after taking the oath of office, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Attorney General Letitia James left, prepares to administer the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as Rama Duwaji, looks on, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, arrives with his wife Rama Duwaji for a swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, administers the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, as his wife Rama Duwaji looks on, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)