Overview
- Dean Fuleihan, 74, a former de Blasio budget director and first deputy mayor, will return to oversee City Hall operations and key budget portfolios.
- Elle Bisgaard-Church, who managed Zohran Mamdani’s campaign and served as his Assembly chief of staff, will be the mayor-elect’s City Hall chief of staff.
- Fuleihan had been quietly advising Mamdani for months and brings decades of Albany budget negotiating experience seen as crucial for the next phase.
- Delivering proposals such as free buses, universal child care and rent measures will require state approval and new revenues, with Gov. Kathy Hochul voicing interest in affordability goals but cautioning on fiscal limits.
- The new team confronts a reported city budget gap of roughly $4–5 billion and the prospect of federal funding friction, raising the stakes for early state negotiations.