Fresh off his victory in the New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani is making an announcement in Queens Wednesday morning.
You can watch the future mayor’s speech live on CBS News New York in the player above.
“The poetry of campaigning may have come to a close last night at 9 p.m., but the beautiful prose of governing has only just begun. The hard work of improving New Yorkers lives starts now,” Mamdani said Wednesday.
Mamdani said he will form his administration including deputy mayors and commissioners in the near future.
“Central to that effort is a transition team that is defined by the excellence New Yorkers will soon come to expect from government,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani announced Elana Leopold will lead his transition team, joined by former FTC Commissioner Lena Khan, former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, United Way CEO Grace Bonilla, and former Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog.
Torres-Springer was among the Adams administration members that resigned after the Department of Justice moved to drop charges against outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.
Mamdani made his announcement at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows, in 1947, the United Nations signed a pact that created the state of Israel. So was he trying to send a message to Jewish New Yorkers?
“I look forward to being the mayor for every person that calls this city home. That includes the Jewish New Yorkers that voted for our campaign and those that didn’t. My responsibility is to all 8.5 million New Yorkers, and we chose this location as a reflection of the borough that I serve, and the fact that we are proud to be known as the world’s borough, and for far too long that embrace of so much of what makes New York City special, so much of what makes it the place that we are proud to call it our home, it has been missing in our leaders in this city,” Mamdani said. “I am excited to be the first immigrant to lead this city in generations and excited more, frankly, to deliver on an agenda of affordability alongside these incredible co-chairs for New Yorkers across the five boroughs.”
Meanwhile, some administration changes are already coming to light. FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said he would resign, effective Dec. 19. An FDNY spokesperson said that was in part due to the change in administration.
Mamdani rocketed to victory Tuesday night, coming from relative obscurity as an assemblyman to being elected the city’s 111th mayor, where he will be entrusted with what many consider the second toughest job in elected office in the nation.
Mamdani, 34, defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. He also overcame objections by President Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funds from the city if Mamdani won.
The central theme of Mamdani’s campaign focused on affordability and the cost of living. He has promised to freeze rent for 2 million stabilized tenants, free buses citywide, universal child care, city-run grocery stores and a new Department of Community Safety, to help address the mentally ill and homeless crises.
Mamdani makes history by becoming New York City’s first Muslim mayor.
Check back soon for more on this developing story.
More from CBS News