New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced on Wednesday his all-female transition team, which includes several political veterans and leaders of non-profit organizations.
The most notable name on his transition team is former Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan, who drew bipartisan praise for her work breaking up trusts during the Biden administration.
Mamdani’s transition committee formation comes a day after the socialist beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the general election for New York City mayor.
The five-person committee includes Khan, nonprofit organization leader Grace Bonilla, former Mayor Eric Adams’s Deputy Mayor, Maria Torres-Springer, and former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Deputy Mayor, Melanie Hartzog, as co-chairs. Mamdani senior adviser Elana Leopold will be the transition’s executive director.
The mayor-elect said the officials would translate the “poetry of campaigning” to the “beautiful prose of governing,” imitating a line said by Cuomo’s father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. He has not heard from Cuomo since winning.
“In the coming months, I and my team will build a City Hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign,” Mamdani said at his first news conference as mayor-elect. “We will form an administration that is equal parts capable and compassionate, driven by integrity and willing to work just as hard as the millions of New Yorkers who call this city home.”
The socialist added in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner that the formation of the transition team will help make his affordability vision a reality.
“Our transition leaders will help build a City Hall committed to excellence, integrity and a hunger to solve old problems with new solutions. Together, we will show the nation how government can deliver when we put the people, not billionaires, first,” he said.
Khan praised Mamdani at a news conference announcing his transition team.
“I know that Zohran has the vision and the courage to make sure that we can actually deliver. It’s such an honor to get to be part of his transition team, and I’m so excited to work with the co-chairs to make sure that we are building an administration that can hit the ground running on Day One and deliver for all New Yorkers,” she said.
Mamdani has promised fast and free buses, a rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants, no-cost child care, and government-run grocery stores. He has said he will raise money for his agenda by taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers and businesses.
He has said that he would retain New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was favored by Adams. Shooting deaths and shootings have hit record lows in the city since the beginning of the year. Tisch said it was the “direct result of our precision policing strategy and the relentless work of the men and women of the NYPD who carry out this plan and make our city safer.”
But the city’s fire commissioner, Robert Tucker, said he would resign next month. He is Jewish and a supporter of Israel, a country Mamdani has shown himself to be opposed to.
One of the largest early challenges for Mamdani when he is inaugurated in January will be how he deals with President Donald Trump, who has threatened to pull federal funding from the city and send in the National Guard.
Trump said, following Mamdani’s win, that he would still be supportive of the city. “We’ll help him,” the president said. “We want New York to be successful. A little bit, maybe.”
MAMDANI’S DEMOGRAPHICS: WHO MAKES UP HIS COALITION?
Mamdani has said that he is open to speaking with the president on issues of affordability in New York City, but will oppose any immigration efforts or National Guard deployment.
The socialist also announced Thursday that his administration has opened a resume portal to look for “top talent in NYC to help build this administration and deliver on our affordability agenda.”