Zohran Mamdani will be inaugurated on Jan. 1 as the 111th mayor of New York City.

We know state Attorney General Letitia James will deliver the oath of office to the mayor-elect at midnight, joined by Mamdani's family, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will give the oath at the public swearing-in ceremony, which starts at 1 p.m. at City Hall. CBS News New York will stream the latter ceremony live.

Bookending the celebration of the new mayor will be a block party along the Canyon of Heroes that begins at 11 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.

But what we don't know is what will happen at the ceremony at City Hall, or what Mamdani's actual message will be to the masses when he steps up to the microphone.

Past inaugurations were often spectacles

In many ways, Mamdani is a first for New York City -- the first millennial, first Muslim, and first South Asian mayor, but he joins a long history of leaders inaugurated on the promise of a new era for City Hall.

CBS News New York's Ali Bauman spoke to Lilly Tuttle, the curator of the Museum of the City of New York, to try to get some insight into what the new mayor might say and learned mayoral inaugurations are often a window into the era of previous administrations.

"I'm going to be looking for ways in which Mamdani maybe speaks to the past," Tuttle said.

She said to understand how the new mayor will start his administration in 2026, we must look at what previous mayors have done and said to mark the occasion.

Back in 1966, for example, Ethel Merman sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at John Lindsay's inauguration. In 1978, Ed Koch rode an M6 bus to his own ceremony and in 1990, a record 12,000 people attended the swearing in of David Dinkins, the city's first Black mayor.

Rudy Giuliani, Dinkins' successor, had his son, Andrew, help with his speech on the steps of City Hall.

"New York City will again be the capital of the world," Rudy Giuliani said, to which his son added, "It should be so and it will be so."

Four years ago, Eric Adams, holding a picture of his late mother, was sworn in just after the ball dropped in Times Square.

The Fiorello LaGuardia playbook 

In 1934, Fiorello LaGuardia skipped a formal ceremony and was sworn in privately on the Upper East Side as he embarked on his quest to lead a city in the depths of the Great Depression.

"We are going to try and demonstrate that a nonpartisan, nonpolitical, honest, clean government is possible in our city," LaGuardia said.

Considering the state of the nation back then, Tuttle said LaGuardia made a prudent choice.

"I think LaGuardia just felt, rightly so, that it would be inappropriate to have a big party and a big celebration in 1934," Tuttle said.

She said Mamdani's speech could mirror LaGuardia's approach in some ways.

"Given Mamdani's messaging around income inequality and sort of helping to lift up New Yorkers who feel like they just can't get ahead in this city, I can't imagine him having a huge, lavish celebration that costs a lot of money," Tuttle said.

Similar to our mayor-elect, LaGuardia promised to clean up corruption in City Hall.

"So they both kind of come in as a new voice, a new energy, just like a new hopefulness for the city," Tuttle said.

The John Lindsay approach

The way Mamdani uses social media to speak directly to New Yorkers is how LaGuardia utilized radio, and three decades later, how Lindsay used television.

"Those wise enough to see the need for change will find a city in rebirth will provide the healthiest climate for business and every other sector of our city's life," Lindsay said at his ceremony in 1966.

Lindsay's inauguration, however, was overshadowed by the worst transit strike in New York City's history.

"Never before has this marvel of mass transportation ground to a stop with the men on the picket lines as a new mayor takes office," Lindsay said.

Lindsay was sworn in on the first day of the strike after staying up all night trying, unsuccessfully, to end it.

"It just goes to show that Lindsay was really stepping into, shall we say, a tense moment for New York City," Tuttle said.

A progressive Republican, Lindsay promoted social justice and civil rights. Tuttle said she predicts Mamdani will pull from the Lindsay playbook in his inaugural speech.

"That he's a mayor for all New Yorkers, and really bring the city together in a way that kind of lifts up people who feel like they just don't have great opportunities today," Tuttle said.

"I think that we've definitely seen mayors who've done this before, who are not afraid to shake things up a little bit, who want people to feel like the city is working for them, and I think I'll hear that with Mamdani, for sure, but I think the specifics of how he's trying to lift people up in the language that he uses around that, I think it'll be interesting to hear," she added.