By Joseph Lord
Contributing Writer
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced on Wednesday that his transition team would be all-female.
“Last night we made history, and today we begin the work of making a new administration,” Mamdani said in a video posted to X.
Following Mamdani’s substantial victory in the city’s mayoral election on Tuesday, outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams will begin handing off power to the mayor-elect’s incoming administration.
Mamdani said that during the transition period, his team would work to “build a City Hall that delivers on the promises of our campaign: to make New York City affordable, and to make it accountable to the people it serves.”
Several of the women announced on Mamdani’s transition website as co-chairs of the transition team are Democratic Party insiders, particularly within New York City politics.
Mamdani said these figures were chosen on the basis of “excellence, integrity, and a hunger to solve old problems with new solutions.”
Members of the transition team include former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, former first deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer, United Way of New York City head Grace Bonilla, former deputy mayor for health and human services Melanie Hartzog, and political consultant Elana Leopold.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist whose bid to lead America’s largest city drew national attention, defeated the leading rival for the post, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who ran an independent campaign, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani ran as a political outsider, drawing huge crowds and grassroots support while obtaining limited backing from establishment figures in the Democratic Party, which had nominated him for the job, for his progressive platform.
Left-wing figures such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were outspoken in favor of Mamdani’s bid.
Meanwhile, top party figures in Washington were more hesitant.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., gave Mamdani his endorsement only near the end of the race, but he has stated that he doesn’t believe Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., meanwhile, never provided an endorsement in the race.
Mamdani’s election also sets the stage for a potentially adversarial relationship with the federal government.
The mayor-elect vowed during his campaign that he would attempt to “Trump-proof” New York, including through opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city.
During an interview with Fox News’s Brett Baier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said: “I’m so torn, because I would like to see the new mayor do well, because I love New York. I really love New York.”
Trump repeated his position that Mamdani is a communist whose policies won’t work.
When asked whether he had reached out to the mayor-elect, Trump said Mamdani should reach out to him.
“I think he should be very nice to me. You know, I’m the one that sort of has to approve a lot of things coming to him,” Trump said. “He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington, because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding.”
