Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani along with his newly appointed transition crew. Nov. 5, 2025.
Picture By Dean Moses
The day after his historic win within the 2025 NYC Mayor’s Race, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani unveiled a crew of 4 ladies who will assist lead the transition into his administration, a crew that the Democrat says will embrace authorities veterans and nonprofit leaders.
Mamdani introduced his transition crew co-chairs in entrance of the Unisphere in Queens’ Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Nov. 5. He named political strategist Elana Leopold because the transition government director.
The group contains Maria Torres-Springer, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams’ former first deputy mayor; Lina Khan, former chair of the Federal Commerce Fee throughout the Biden administration; Grace Bonilla, CEO of the nonprofit United Manner NYC; and Melanie Hartzog, who has served as a deputy mayor throughout the de Blasio administration and metropolis finances director in previous administrations.
“We will form an administration that is in 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,” Mamdani stated. “And central to that effort is a transition team that is defined by the excellence New Yorkers will soon come to expect from government.”
Collectively along with his transition crew, Mamdani stated Wednesday that he’ll start asserting high administration picks over the approaching days, together with positions equivalent to deputy mayors and company heads.
These selections shall be intently watched selections because the 34-year-old Democratic socialist, who has no prior government expertise after serving simply 5 years in his Queens Meeting seat, seeks to reveal that he can construct a reliable authorities.
Mamdani added that he and his transition crew will seek the advice of a broad swath of presidency and coverage consultants, in addition to on a regular basis New Yorkers, when contemplating how you can construct his crew.
“We will speak to the organizers on the front lines of the fight to improve our city government, veterans with proven track records, policy experts from around the country and the world, and working people who know better than anyone what their neighborhoods need,” he stated.
Mamdani has already stated that he want to retain Mayor Adams’ fourth NYPD commissioner, Jessica Tisch — a choice applauded by metropolis enterprise leaders. Nevertheless, Tisch has but to publicly say whether or not she’s going to keep on for the brand new administration.
Torres-Springer is probably essentially the most recognizable member of the transition crew. She was key to pushing by way of Mayor Adams’ “City of Yes” plan to spice up housing growth.
Torres-Springer served in three completely different roles throughout the de Blasio Administration: commissioner of the town’s Division of Small Enterprise Providers, president of the town’s Financial Growth Company, and Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Growth. She joined the Adams administration in 2022 as deputy mayor for Housing, Financial Growth and Workforce, however resigned from the publish amid the political fallout over President Trump’s Justice Division transfer to drop his federal corruption case involving Adams early this 12 months.
On Wednesday, Torres-Springer stated she is “eager” to deliver her expertise from working for 3 mayoral administrations to Mamdani’s transition. She stated she will advise him on “what worked and what didn’t” for previous mayors to assist him enact his agenda, which incorporates daring proposals like freezing lease will increase for stabilized tenants and implementing common baby care.
Khan, who labored in former President Biden’s administration, stated the environment friendly approach Mamdani ran his marketing campaign exhibits that he’ll be capable of successfully govern.
“I think what we saw through the campaign was an operation that showed extraordinary discipline, rigor, talent,” she stated. “I know that Zohran has the vision and courage to make sure that we can actually deliver.”
