Kicking off his second day on the job, Mayor Zohran Mamdani surrounded himself with former campaign volunteers in the middle of Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn.
“So many people feel isolated from one another and distant from a political system that can feel closed or unresponsive. They made a deliberate choice,” he said.
What You Need To Know
Mamdani named top campaign aide Tascha Van Auken as commissioner of the newly created Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement
He credits Van Auken with helping marshal a so-called army of volunteers, at one point said to be 100,000 strong and responsible for knocking on over 3 million doors
Pointing to an example of when he transformed advice into successful policy, Mamdani credited his signature free MTA bus proposal to a conversation he had years ago as a Queens state assemblyman
Meanwhile, Mamdani said he and the city’s First Lady Rama Duwaji are planning to move to Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side before the month’s end
Mamdani named top campaign aide Tascha Van Auken as commissioner of the newly created Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement. He credits her with helping marshal a so-called army of volunteers, at one point said to be 100,000 strong and responsible for knocking on over 3 million doors.
“This is done with the intention of delivering for New Yorkers today, delivering for New Yorkers every single day,” Mamdani said.
Pointing to an example of when he transformed advice into successful policy, Mamdani credited his signature free MTA bus proposal to a conversation he had years ago as a Queens state assemblyman.
“Who brought up the fact, in order to deliver not only in terms of economic relief but also in terms of public safety, this would mean also making buses free. And those are meetings that then informed our approach,” he said.
Shying away from disclosing a price tag, Mamdani said current city staffers will be shuffled into new roles.
Already, there’s a Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, described as the “fundamental connection between City Hall and New York City residents throughout the five boroughs,” according to City Hall’s website.
“There are a number of employees within this office that are already working in the city within previously existing offices, and then the specifics of how it will expand is what we will be sharing later.”
Meanwhile, Mamdani said he and the city’s First Lady Rama Duwaji are planning to move to Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side before the month’s end.