New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has addressed the speculation over who covered the public costs connected to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in the city last week.
The high-profile couple got married at Madison Square Garden earlier this month in a ceremony that drew huge attention online and off.
The wedding unfolded over the busy Fourth of July holiday period, with city officials approving a permit for the multi-day event and planning for partial street closures and extra public-safety coverage around the venue.
Roughly 1,000 guests were there for the celebration, including a long list of celebrity names alongside relatives and close friends of Swift and Kelce.
Security around the venue was significant, with New York Police Department officers and National Guard members stationed nearby. According to Mamdani, the response tied to the event came to more than $160,000.
That sparked criticism from some social media users, who suggested taxpayers had been left to cover the bill. Mamdani, however, said Swift had already paid the relevant costs herself.
During a press conference on Friday (July 10), Mamdani was asked if the pop star would reimburse New York City for what was described as ‘police overtime’.
Mamdani said: “Taylor Swift will be paying, has paid already, the cost of the permit that was lodged, which was over $160,000 for that event and for the response to that event.
“That was a permit that was finalized in just the days before the event itself.”
City Hall had previously said it was preparing for crowds around Madison Square Garden and other holiday-weekend events across Manhattan, while officials declined to get into much detail about the wedding before it took place.
With all expenses taken into account, the wedding is believed to have cost somewhere close to $30 million, making it one of the most expensive ceremonies seen in decades.
Esther Lee, editorial director at The Knot Worldwide, told Page Six: “We estimate the decor and florals to be, at minimum, $5 million. Not to forget that custom draping and carpet installation had to transform the space entirely.
“We estimate the total cost sits in the $20 million to $30+ million range, cementing it as a massive economic engine for the local NY economy and broader wedding industry at large.”
Swift and Kelce’s guest list reflected just how star-studded the event was, blending major names from music, sport, television and film.
Among the well-known attendees reported at Madison Square Garden were:
Gracie Abrams
Jack Antonoff
Sacha Baron Cohen
Simone Biles
Benson Boone
Tom Brady
Millie Bobby Brown
Camila Cabello
Sabrina Carpenter
Jessica Chastain
Stephen Colbert
Bradley Cooper
Laura Dern
Lena Dunham
Phoebe Dynevor
Kaia Gerber
Greta Gerwig
Nikki Glaser
Donald Glover
Selena Gomez
Hugh Grant
Gigi Hadid
Mariska Hargitay
Tom Hanks
Ethan Hawke
Liam Hemsworth
Greg James
Dakota Johnson
Karlie Kloss
Zoë Kravitz
Jennifer Lopez
Patrick Mahomes
Paul McCartney
Seth Myers
MGK