New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani appointed more than 400 people to 17 transition committees on Monday, including two top leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City branch.
Gustavo Gordillo and Grace Mausser, NYC DSA co-chairs, will serve on the Economic Development and Workforce Development and Small Businesses and Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises committees, respectively.
The pair, along with four other named DSA members and several hundred others, will advise Mamdani on how to implement his affordability agenda.
“These are the people that New Yorkers look to for wisdom, for guidance, and their creativity, their drive, their commitment is what sets our city apart,” Mamdani said at a Central Park press conference.
“I have entrusted them with a mighty responsibility to lead these committees and to provide the policy and hiring recommendations that our transition team will turn to as we prepare to begin governing on Jan. 1,” he added.
The committees will be overseen by the transition’s four co-chairs, headlined by former Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan. Two of the committees are unique to the Mamdani administration: the Worker Justice and Community Organizing committees.
“These two committees illustrate the administration’s commitment to honoring and building upon the movement of working class New Yorkers that delivered the Mayor-elect’s historic victory,” a Mamdani transition release said.
The latter committee includes DSA member Asher Ross. Two other named DSA members, Katherine Jin and Julie Swoope, will be on the technology committee. Sebastian Leon Martinez of the Young Democratic Socialists of America will be on the Youth and Education committee.
Transition Executive Director Elana Leopold said in a statement, “Excellence is the guiding light driving this transition, and today’s committee appointees are no exception. Together, these leaders will help prepare Mayor-elect Mamdani’s administration to take on the city’s toughest challenges—from housing access to emergency preparedness to the day-to-day operations of city government that must be exceptional.”
The 402 appointed members also include former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former Education Secretary John King, former New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro, former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, and former New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot.
Gordillo and Mausser appear to be the first major NYC DSA appointments to the mayoral transition. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and current Mayor Eric Adams did not have any NYC DSA leadership appointees in their transitions.
Mausser said last month that she does not expect to be in lockstep with Mamdani’s administration, though she will now take part in shaping it.
“Of course, there will be instances where we disagree. Zohran’s administration is not the same as NYC DSA. We know that,” she told Politico. “We really want to put our energy into what we can build together with the power of a mayoral administration and the power of not only DSA but of a broad left-labor coalition. I think we have the opportunity to really transform the city in ways that haven’t been seen before.”
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The Mamdani campaign called the DSA “an essential partner” at the time.
“DSA has been an essential partner for Zohran Mamdani in powering this campaign, and he looks forward to working with them to deliver a more affordable city and continue to engage more New Yorkers in the political process,” spokeswoman Dora Pekec told the outlet.