New York City Mayor-elect announced on Wednesday an entirely female team to spearhead his official transition efforts.
The 34-year-old revealed a roster of transition advisors who have previously served in the administrations of former mayors , Bill de Blasio, and Michael Bloomberg. This group includes past city and federal officials, leaders of nonprofit organizations, and seasoned veterans of City Hall.
“My team and I will construct a City Hall capable of fulfilling this campaign’s pledges,” the mayor-elect stated at a press conference at the Unisphere in Queens, promising that his administration would “work diligently every day to uphold the trust I now possess.”
Elana Leopold, a progressive political strategist, longtime de Blasio aide, and senior advisor to the Mamdani campaign, will assume the role of the transition’s executive director. Serving as transition co-chairs will be former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, United Way of New York City President Grace Bonilla, and municipal budget expert Melanie Hartzog.
Mamdani’s announcement did not introduce any new senior administrative appointments but reaffirmed his intention to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Tisch, originally appointed by former Mayor Adams, has not publicly confirmed whether she will remain in the position, though Mamdani’s staff express confidence that she will.
The transition team’s mandate is to ensure a seamless progression for the mayor-elect from Election Day to the inauguration in January. Mamdani’s team draws expertise from social services, finance, city budgeting, and housing development.
As mayor, Mamdani will preside over approximately 300,000 city employees and manage a budget exceeding $100 billion.
During his first news conference since his win, Mamdani asserted his desire for the transition groundwork to align with his administration’s “commitment to tackling old challenges with fresh solutions.”
“The lyrical phase of campaigning might have concluded last night at 9, but the eloquent narrative of governance has only just begun,” he remarked, adapting a phrase from his opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo’s father, the former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo.
On Tuesday, Mamdani triumphed over his opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a hard-fought general election characterized by record voter participation, thereby becoming the city’s inaugural Muslim mayor, one of the nation’s rare democratic socialist leaders, and one of the youngest mayors in the city’s history.
More than 2 million New Yorkers cast their votes, marking the largest turnout in a mayoral contest in over 50 years, according to the city’s Board of Elections. With about 90% of the votes tallied, Mamdani leads Cuomo by an estimated 9 percentage points.
Mamdani, who faced criticism during his campaign for his perceived limited experience, now confronts the challenge of building his team and delivering on a bold, potentially polarizing agenda.
His pledges include complimentary child care and bus service, city-run grocery stores, and the establishment of a new Department of Community Safety that would deploy mental health professionals—rather than police—to certain emergencies. The funding for these initiatives remains unclear, given Gov. Kathy Hochul’s firm opposition to increasing taxes on the affluent. On Wednesday, he highlighted his support from Hochul and other state leaders as “endorsements of a platform focused on affordability.”
“I don’t harbor resentment toward New Yorkers who harbored doubts, and I don’t blame them, considering they were exposed to approximately $40 million in attack advertisements,” the mayor-elect, a departing Queens state assemblymember, informed NY1 on Wednesday morning. “Consequently, for many New Yorkers, upon opening their mail, watching television, or listening to the radio, they would encounter various reasons to fear me. My responsibility now is to lead the entire city, and I am eager for it.”
