NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani can claim multiple firsts when he becomes New York's mayor Jan. 1.
Besides being the first Muslim and first person of South Asian heritage elected to the office, the Democrat also is poised to shape city history by being the 112th mayor — rather than 111th, as he was expecting. That’s due to a longstanding oversight in record-keeping that recently gained new attention.
“I’m excited to be whichever mayor,” Mamdani told reporters Wednesday after learning about the counting contretemps. It shows how tricky history's arithmetic can be.
Paul Hortenstine, an independent historian exploring early New York mayors' participation in slavery, recently noticed that the city government's widely used list of mayors undercounted Matthias Nicolls, a figure from the beginning years of English colonial rule in New York.
Nicolls was listed as the sixth mayor, from 1671 to 1672, but there was no mention of his return to office two years later. In the interim, successor John Lawrence took office, then was ousted by a Dutch invasion that briefly implemented a different form of colonial government. The Netherlands eventually gave up the area in exchange for other concessions, and the new English governor reappointed Nicolls in late 1674.
Other mayors were counted multiple times if they served nonconsecutive terms, so Hortenstine suggested Nicolls get the same treatment. The correction would entail renumbering 350 years of subsequent mayors, from William Dervall (who would become No. 9) to incumbent Eric Adams (who'd be No. 111).
“The numbering of mayors is a fascinating issue that is much more difficult than it appears at first glance,” Hortenstine said by phone.
A Washington, D.C.-area researcher, Hortenstine has his own history with New York mayors: He worked for Michael Bloomberg's 2009 reelection campaign. (The three-consecutive-term Bloomberg would be 109th if the list is renumbered.)
He hopes the debate will stir interest in early mayors and their personal and political involvement with slavery.
As Hortenstine noted, a former New York State Library official, the late Peter Christoph, pointed out the Nicholls numbering flub in 1989. This time, after local news site Gothamist broached the apparent mayoral miscount, the city Department of Records and Information Services looked into it.
In a Dec. 11 blog post, agency archivist Michael Lorenzini painstakingly traced a trail of complexities and gaps in centuries-old records. When the city began printing lists of past mayors in the mid-1800s, Nicolls' second term didn't make it.
“It does appear that on January 1, 2026, Mayor Mamdani should be mayor number 112,” Lorenzini wrote, while noting “the numbering of New York City ‘mayors’ has been somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent.”
The list doesn't enumerate the “burgomasters,” mayor-like officials who served in pairs during some periods of Dutch governance. There's no accounting for any leaders among the Native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years before colonization. Some acting mayors are mentioned but not awarded numbers — except in a more obscure version of the list, nestled in a 2015 document in the city archives.
Moreover, even equating “mayors” is, to some extent, Big Apples and oranges. The mayor initially led a New York City that comprised only Manhattan, before the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island were added in the late 1800s.
So how much does the numerical list ultimately count?
“In some ways, it is a sort of academic exercise,” Lorenzini said by phone this week. “But I think what’s interesting to me is that we still have these records, and people can still dive into them and still find something new or something to argue about. History is still alive.”
FILE - New York Mayor John P. O'Brien pins an honor medal on Capt. Giles Stedman, on the steps of New York City Hall, Jan. 27, 1933, in New York. (AP File Photo)
FILE - Mayor Joseph V. McKee, center, stands with Sioux chieftains, in full tribal regalia, who met with him at New York City Hall, Nov. 18, 1932, in New York. (AP File Photo)
FILE - New York Mayor Jimmy Walker, right, rides with Romania's Queen Marie upon her arrival in New York, Oct. 18, 1926, as she started her extended journey across America. (AP File Photo)
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kongers offered flowers and bowed outside a funeral parlor on Friday to pay tribute to a firefighter who was among the 160 people killed by the city's deadliest fire in decades.
Ho Wai-ho lost his life battling the massive blaze that engulfed seven buildings of a housing complex on Nov. 26. He was 37. The fire services department has posthumously awarded him the title of senior fireman.
An array of wreaths lay outside the Universal Funeral Parlour, with thank-you cards from residents put up on its wall. Top officials, including Hong Kong leader John Lee, were among the funeral attendees.
After the ceremony, they stood outside the parlor to send off the hearse, which carried Ho’s portrait at the front. Dozens of firefighters raised a salute as Ho’s coffin, draped with a Hong Kong regional flag, departed.
Before the funeral, some black-clad residents laid flowers at a mourning area outside the venue. One woman cried when she paid respect, and a man made a salute gesture.
Resident Andy Fong, who brought yellow flowers with him, said he hoped Ho could rest in peace.
“It's heartbreaking. Although we have never met, it has saddened every Hong Konger," he said.
Retiree Tse Pak-yin praised Ho for his bravery.
“I hope he will be happy. He still hasn't got married and it's such as pity,” he said.
Ho is survived by his parents, his two brothers and his fiancée.
The hearse headed to Wang Fuk Court, the site of the fire, for another ceremony before proceeding to Ho's fire station. At the station, colleagues paid their last tributes, with some officers marching on both sides of the hearse as it moved. He was laid to rest at Gallant Garden, a burial ground for civil servants who die in the line of duty.
In a Monday statement, the fire services department said Ho was an industrious, polite and dedicated member who was well respected by his colleagues.
The financial hub's worst blaze since 1948 broke out November 26 at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po. It was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to the substandard plastic nylon netting and foam boards installed on windows for contributing to the fire’s rapid spread.
Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The tragedy pained many residents across the city.
While arrests were made, some residents have raised concerns about government oversight in building maintenance projects and official investigation efforts.
The government last week announced a judge-led independent committee to probe the cause and expected it to conclude the work within nine months, along with new requirements for checking the standards of netting.
An earlier version of the headline on this story inaccurately described the fire as Hong Kong’s deadliest. It was the deadliest in decades.
Firefighters gather around the grave of Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, during a funeral in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A picture of Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, is displayed on a hearse at a funeral parlor, in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A display of wreaths stand outside a funeral parlor at a tribute to Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A resident salutes to pay tribute to Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People gather outside a funeral parlor to pay tribute to Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, passing by a funeral parlor in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A hearse carries Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, as it passes by a funeral parlor, in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A hearse carries Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty during the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court on Nov. 26, passes by a funeral parlor in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
