Imagine the pre-wedding jitters – forgetting your marriage license, battling frigid temperatures, and a frantic dash back home! That’s precisely what Matthew Cruz, a 30-year-old audio engineer, and Molly McGhee, a 31-year-old novelist, faced before their planned ceremony at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau last week. Cruz, on an electric CitiBike, barely made it back with the crucial document just moments before their 10:30 a.m. appointment.
But the day had another, far more delightful surprise in store. As they finally made their way inside, they were greeted by none other than Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who expressed his desire to officiate their wedding. “Are you kidding me?” a stunned Ms. McGhee exclaimed. Though they’d never met him, the answer was a resounding yes. Cruz later admitted, “It took me a full 45 seconds to get our rings out because I was shaking a little bit.”
Caption: Mayor Zohran Mamdani officiated the wedding of Emily Grimmius and Muhammad Saleem, among six couples he married that day.
Credit: via Emily Grimmius and Muhammad Saleem
Mayor Mamdani’s unannounced visit to the Manhattan Marriage Bureau saw him officiate for six lucky New York City couples. This special appearance served as a personal anniversary celebration for the Mayor, who had married artist Rama Duwaji in the very same city clerk’s office almost a year prior.
Amid a challenging week that included navigating a deadly cold snap and preparing for crucial budget discussions in Albany, the Mayor carved out time for this heartfelt initiative. The event was a closely guarded secret, revealed only on Valentine’s Day morning when his office released a video documenting the joyous occasion. In the video, Mayor Mamdani shares his thoughts: “I think it’s the best of New York. You see all these couples — so many different stories, so many different ages, so many different lives, and they’re all coming to get married.”
Caption: Molly McGhee and Matthew Cruz were among the couples married by Mayor Mamdani. Ms. McGhee appreciated that the Mayor respectfully used her spouse’s correct pronouns (they/them) during the ceremony.
Credit: Tayler Smith
According to Michael McSweeney, the city clerk since 2009, this was an unprecedented event. He couldn’t recall any previous sitting mayor officiating public weddings at the city clerk’s office (affectionately known as City Hall), nor one who had been married there themselves. The six fortunate couples were not pre-selected; they were simply next in line on that Thursday morning. Members of the marriage bureau staff offered them the unique opportunity to have their vows presided over by the Mayor.
“All of the couples were somewhere between happy and thrilled,” Mr. McSweeney reported. The newlyweds, in interviews, shared their astonishment but embraced the chance for the Mayor to play a cameo in their romantic narratives. Ms. McGhee, a proud supporter of Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, was particularly touched by his correct use of her spouse Cruz’s pronouns, they/them. The couple’s love story began 12 years ago at a poetry reading while students at Champlain College in Vermont.
McGhee emphasized that the Mayor maintained a focus on the couples, not himself. Following their roughly five-minute ceremony, she and Cruz celebrated by riding the subway to Bryant Park with their families, taking photos at the New York Public Library and indulging in a luxurious seafood tower at a nearby restaurant. “I love that the mayor was there, but I’ll be honest, my focus was not on him,” she candidly stated.
Emily Grimmius, a 30-year-old Manhattan lawyer, also found her wedding day far more exhilarating than expected. “I expected the day to be, like, government paperwork,” she recalled. “And then you walk in, and it’s your wedding, and you’re a little star-struck by the mayor.” She and her husband, Muhammad Saleem, 28, a startup founder, often reflect on how only New York could have brought them together. She hails from Washington and California; he grew up in Pakistan before moving to Chicago. They connected in 2024 through Columbia University friends, bonding over a shared passion for food.
“It’s the epitome of New York: You don’t know who you are going to meet,” Mr. Saleem reflected. “There is nothing predictable, and that’s the beauty of the city, right?”
Caption: Michael and Minji Tzeng photographed with Mayor Mamdani on their wedding day, a photo they shared with disbelief among friends and family.
Credit: via Robin Kang
Michael and Minji Tzeng, who first met on the dating app Hinge in 2019, arrived for their 11:15 a.m. marriage bureau appointment anticipating a quiet ceremony with a few family members. Minji, a 29-year-old data engineer, specifically chose the Manhattan location for its aesthetic appeal among the city clerk’s offices.
Soon, Michael, a 30-year-old medical resident, was shaking hands with a beaming Mayor Mamdani. The Mayor even complimented Michael’s black-and-gray striped tie, mentioning he owned an identical one. Post-ceremony, the Tzengs enjoyed ramen at their Upper East Side apartment and excitedly shared photos of their unexpected “wedding crasher” with friends.
“They were like, Wait, is this real?” Ms. Tzeng recounted. “Are you sure it’s not A.I.?”