The transition for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani began with an announcement in Queens of a team to help him staff and craft policies to deliver the affordable city he promised in the campaign.
“New Yorkers deserve a government that they can trust,” he said Wednesday morning. “When our city celebrates the inauguration of a new administration, let us also celebrate a new era for our city.”
What You Need To Know
The transition for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani began with an announcement in Queens of a team to help him staff and craft policies to deliver the affordable city he promised in the campaign
Many of the transition leaders are veterans of City Hall. Their resumes indicate Mamdani’s immediate attention is on low-income New Yorkers, social services and — for the incoming democratic socialist mayor — a national voice against corporate power
Mamdani said in the coming days, he’ll be announcing more deputy mayors and commissioners, like government veterans, policy experts and advocates
Many of the transition leaders are veterans of City Hall. Their resumes indicate Mamdani’s immediate attention is on low-income New Yorkers, social services and — for the incoming democratic socialist mayor — a national voice against corporate power.
Elana Leopold, a progressive political strategist and adviser to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, will direct the transition.
The co-chairs will be: Melanie Hartzog, a deputy mayor for health and human services who served under former Mayor Bill de Blasio; Maria Torres Springer, a former top deputy for Mayor Eric Adams; Grace Bonilla, a former Bloomberg administration official who is now chief of United Way of New York City, a poverty-fighting nonprofit; and Lina Khan, a regulator in the Biden White House who was known for opposing big corporate mergers.
But Mamdani pledged the team will also address other important areas in New Yorkers’ lives.
“These will be the leaders of our transition, and also this transition will expand and extend beyond any one specific set of issue areas. So, the topics of education and public safety continue to be [of] immense importance,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mamdani was on NY1 looking toward his inauguration.
“New Yorkers deserve a City Hall that is not only dedicated but is also going to deliver on actually addressing the cost-of-living crisis,” he said during an interview on “Mornings On 1.”
Meanwhile, down in Miami, Florida, President Donald Trump said, “If you wanna see what congressional Democrats wish to do to America, just look at the result of yesterday’s election in New York where their party installed a communist as the mayor of the largest city in the nation.”
Trump sought to make New York’s socialist mayor into the Democratic Party’s mascot ahead of the midterm elections.
Back in Queens, Mamdani discussed those who did not vote for him — in particular Jewish New Yorkers who felt targeted in the way he expressed his anti-Israel views during the campaign.
“I look forward to working with Jewish leaders across this city, whether they be elected officials, whether they be rabbis, community leaders, to deliver on a promise of not just protecting Jewish New Yorkers but celebrating and cherishing them in the city,” he said.
Mamdani said in the coming days, he’ll be announcing more deputy mayors and commissioners, like government veterans, policy experts and advocates.