Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration began taking shape on Wednesday as the New York City mayor-elect announced a transition team to help enact what he called the city’s most ambitious policy platform in a generation, vowing to get right to work when he takes office on 1 January.
Speaking at a morning press conference in Queens, the 34-year-old democratic socialist revealed an all-female transition team led by Elana Leopold as executive director. It also includes co-chairs Maria Torres-Springer, the former first deputy mayor; Lina Khan, the former federal trade commission chair; the United Way’s president and CEO, Grace Bonilla; and the former deputy mayor for health and human services Melanie Hartzog.
“In the coming months, I and my team will build a city hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign,” Mamdani told reporters. “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.”
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The selection of Khan, who gained national prominence for her aggressive antitrust enforcement at the FTC under Joe Biden and is admired by both progressives and populist Republicans, signals Mamdani’s intention to bring bold reformers into his administration as he prepares to lead the nation’s largest city.
In his first television interview since defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday night, Mamdani stressed the urgency of preparation. “We owe it to this city to be ready on 1 January to start delivering,” he said on Wednesday. “We have 57 days and those are 57 days to start to do the work of preparing.”
With his victory, Mamdani will become the city’s first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage, the first born in Africa and the youngest in more than a century.
New York’s incoming administration faces formidable obstacles, not least from Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani took office. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president, who also hails from Queens, wrote that if Mamdani won the mayoral election, “it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required” to New York City. He often labels the democratic socialist a “communist”.
New York City’s budget for fiscal year 2026 includes approximately $7.4bn in federal funding, accounting for 6.4% of total spending, according to a 2025 analysis from the state comptroller.
On election day, Trump escalated his attacks, writing on Truth Social that “any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person”, despite Mamdani’s repeated condemnations of antisemitism.
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The campaign was marked by a massive wave of Islamophobic attacks from Democrats, Republicans and conservative commentators. Florida congressman Randy Fine and Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles, both Republicans, urged the justice department to denaturalize and deport Mamdani, who became a US citizen in 2018, and in late October, Cuomo laughed on a radio show when host Sid Rosenberg suggested that Mamdani “would be cheering” if another 9/11 attack occurred, with Cuomo responding in agreement. Later, standing next to outgoing mayor Eric Adams, Cuomo nodded as Adams warned: “New York can’t be Europe, folks. You see what’s playing out in other countries because of Islamic extremism.”
Republican congressman Chip Roy of Texas also published an op-ed ahead of the election warning about the “Islamic cultural revolution” behind Mamdani, calling him “the poster child for the modern Democrat party”.
A November report from the Center for the Study of Organized Hate found that Islamophobic posts about Mamdani on X increased by more than 450% from September to October, with nearly 36,000 posts from over 17,000 unique accounts collectively receiving 7.37m likes, and 72% of posts involved “terrorist labeling”.
The mayor-elect acknowledged some of the significant challenges ahead, including navigating city hall bureaucracy and working under a hostile Trump administration. But Mamdani said he’s convinced in his ability to deliver on his campaign promises.
“I’m confident in delivering these same policies that we ran on for the last year,” he said, adding that he aims to unite New Yorkers across political divides. “No matter what your politics, we’re all facing the same issues.”
Mamdani campaigned on an unapologetically progressive platform including a rent freeze for stabilized apartments, free bus service, universal childcare and city-run grocery stores, all funded by increased taxes on corporations and the wealthy. His campaign raised more than $20m from small donors, breaking fundraising records with an average contribution of approximately $80.
His victory also came on a night of scorching wins for Democrats nationally. In gubernatorial races, Democrats Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively, both as former moderate Democratic members of Congress running on their national security backgrounds.
California voters also approved Proposition 50, Gavin Newsom’s redistricting measure designed to make five Republican-held congressional seats more favorable to Democrats in next year’s midterm elections. And in Somerville, Massachusetts – home to Tufts University – voters approved Question 3, a non-binding measure calling on city leaders to end business with companies that “engage in business that sustains Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine”, by 55%.
The incoming New York administration said it would begin announcing deputy mayors and agency commissioners in the coming days. Mamdani said that “some of these people will have familiar names, others will not” but that these officials would be united by their “commitment to solving old problems with new solutions”.
“On 1 January, when our city celebrates the inauguration of a new administration, let us also celebrate a new era for our city,” Mamdani said, “one that we all feel invested in and whose success we all work to achieve.”
