Overview
- The mayor-elect introduced an all-women leadership group: executive director Elana Leopold and co-chairs Lina Khan, Maria Torres-Springer, Grace Bonilla and Melanie Hartzog to guide hiring and policy planning.
- Mamdani said deputy mayor and agency leadership appointments will be announced in the coming days as the transition selects his closest advisers.
- He asked supporters to resume donations to fund transition operations, including staffing, research and infrastructure.
- He reiterated an affordability agenda that includes a rent freeze for stabilized apartments, free buses, universal childcare and city-run grocery stores, proposals that face fiscal hurdles given resistance to higher taxes on the wealthy.
- Federal headwinds loom after President Trump threatened to limit funding to New York, a significant risk given the city’s reliance on roughly $7.4 billion in federal aid projected for FY2026, while business leaders scrutinize Khan’s antitrust record.