“So help me God,” Adrienne Adams said Wednesday, taking the oath of office administered by Rep. Gregory Meeks.

The moment the Queens council member was sworn in as speaker, cheers erupted from her family and colleagues.

Applause rang through the City Council chambers more than once at the charter meeting that doubled as a celebration of the new class’ history-making diversity.

What You Need To Know

  • Choosing their speaker was the new City Council's first vote together

  • As speaker, Adams will have power to set the legislative agenda for next two years

  • The new council class includes more women, more Asian-Americans, more Republicans and a lot of "firsts"

The 51 members were sworn in together.

Their first vote together?

A nearly unanimous one to install Adams as council speaker, an influential post giving her the power to set the legislative agenda for the next four years.

“My friends, history has its eyes on this City Council,” she said.

Adams, a daughter of Hollis who worked jobs as flight attendant and trainer at Fortune 500 companies before taking elected office, is the first Black woman to be speaker.

In voicing support for her, several of her colleagues referenced their own breaking of barriers.

Shekar Krishnan introduced himself “as one of the first two South Asians ever elected to the City Council.”

Crystal Hudson of Brooklyn introduced herself as “as one of the first two openly gay Black women ever elected to the City Council.”

There are a record 31 women now serving on the council.

Additionally, the Republican conference has grown to five from three.

“Our opposition is not personal — and I hope you all realize that — it’s not even political,” Minority Leader Joe Borelli told the legislative body Wednesday. “It’s more of a duty to present a different take to the public.”

Adams, in her first speech as speaker, addressed the challenges New Yorkers now face, including gun violence and police reform.

"As Speaker, I will continue to listen to each of you on this issue, hear what your constituents have personally lived through, and find the right balance of public safety and fairness,” she said.

She also discussed food insecurity and homelessness.

“This Council will work to reverse the economic slide brought by the pandemic,” she said. “And we will do it through the principles of the labor movement, which has always put workers first.”

Adams announced as members of her leadership team: Diana Ayala as deputy speaker, Keith Powers as majority leader and Selvena Brooks-Powers as majority whip.

COVID precautions meant that attendance at the meeting was limited to those with tickets.

And the meeting was a hybrid format, meaning some members could participate virtually, though most were at City Hall in person.