New York: New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has announced an all-female transition team Wednesday as he prepares to take office on January 1, 2026.
“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 a press conference in Queens, as per The Guardian. “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.”
Mamdani will be 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. “We owe it to this city to be ready on January 1 to start delivering,” he said. “We have 57 days and those are 57 days to start to do the work of preparing.”
The 34-year-old Democratic socialist named political consultant Elana Leopold as executive director of his transition team. The co-chairs are former first deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer, ex-Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, United Way of New York City CEO Grace Bonilla, and former deputy mayor for health and human services Melanie Hartzog.
Khan became widely known for her tough anti-trust actions under former President Joe Biden. “Some of these people will have familiar names, others will not,” Mamdani said, “But they will be united by their commitment to solving old problems with new solutions.”
Mamdani said he is confident he can deliver on his campaign platform, which calls for a rent freeze, free bus service, universal childcare, and city-run grocery stores paid for by taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
He called for renewed donations to fund his transition team. “I’m excited for the fact that it will be funded by the very people who brought us to this point, the working people who have been left behind by the politics of the city,” he said, as per CNN.
On potential talks with US President Donald Trump, Mamdani said, “I look forward to having those conversations and to making clear that if there is ever anything to be spoken about that could benefit the people of the city, I am ready and willing to speak to anyone about it.”
“On January 1, when our city celebrates the inauguration of a new administration, let us also celebrate a new era for our city,” Mamdani said.
During his victory speech, Mamdani quoted India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’. He projected himself as the leader of “new age” who is fighting against political dynasty, oligarchy and authoritarianism in the Trump era.
“A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” Mamdani said, recalling the words of Nehru who delivered his famous speech on the eve of India’s independence.
Nehru, in his speech, said, “Freedom and power bring responsibility.” Though this was not quoted by Mamdani he knows that his victory has shouldered a big responsibility on him to lead and inspire generations, particularly the ndian-American community, expert who knows the matter said. In his speech, Nehru said, “The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us.”