Mamdani Builds Team With Fresh And Familiar Faces. Here's Who's On Board

By Katie Honan, The City

Dec. 31, 2025

Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as New York City’s next mayor on Jan. 1. In the weeks since his win, he’s been slowly building out his administration, although there are some key roles still not filled — including deputy mayor for operations, a schools chancellor, and the head of the Department of Transportation.

One appointee resigned a little more than 24 hours after she was announced after anti-semitic social media posts she wrote as a teenager surfaced.

Mamdani is also keeping some current commissioners and administration officials, including Dr. Mitchell Katz as president and CEO of Health and Hospitals, Dr. Jason Graham as chief medical examiner, Mir Bashar as chief administrative officer and Michael Garner as chief business diversity officer.

Here’s a running list of who will be part of the Mamdani administration, in order of appointment:

First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan

Fuleihan spent years working in Albany as a policy analyst and then budget negotiator before joining former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration in 2013 as budget director and later in the job he’s returning to under Mamdani.

At 74, he offers the mayor — 40 years his junior — the experience many have criticized Mamdani for not having. Since he was announced, he’s attended picket line events and the incoming mayor’s 12-hour listening session at the Museum of the Moving Image, hearing from New Yorkers sound off about their biggest concerns.

Chief of Staff Elle Bisgaard-Church

Bisgaard-Church was announced alongside Fuleihan in early November and will serve in the same capacity she did for Mamdani during his tenure in the state Assembly. The usually press-shy staffer was described in a City & State profile as “calm” and “chic” and a “workhorse.” She also spent time meeting with New Yorkers about their citywide concerns, and is expected to be Mamdani’s most trusted advisor.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch

It was first reported in October that Mamdani wanted to keep the current police commissioner — Mayor Eric Adams’s fourth — in his administration. Nearly a month later, she announced she had accepted the mayor-elect’s offer.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch attends a City Hall press conference alongside Mayor Eric Adams about utilizing translation apps, Dec. 8, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Head of Intergovernmental Affairs Jahmila Edwards

A longtime leader of District Council 37,the city’s largest municipal union, Edwards will run Mamdani’s intergovernmental office, which works with local, state and federal officials to build support for the administration’s priorities. Most recently, the union’s associate director, she previously worked at the city Department of Education.

Jahmila Edwards speaks at the Greenpoint Public Library about her new role running incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dec. 17, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Budget Director Sherif Soliman

Soliman was most recently the senior vice chancellor for budget and finance and chief financial officer at the City University of New York. He was tapped to lead the mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, an especially crucial position as the city faces budget deficits.

Soliman was a chief policy and delivery officer in the Office of Policy and Planning under Adams, and commissioner of the Department of Finance, among other positions, for de Blasio. He also served under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg

Bozorg is the current executive director for housing under Mayor Adams and has spent more than 15 years working in government, including at the Department of City Planning and Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Her focus on creating more housing innovatively, by building on small lots, for example, will be pivotal in helping Mamdani achieve a critical goal. Bozorg also worked at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Julie Su speaks on Staten Island next to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani about her appointment as Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice, Dec. 19, 2025. Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg is to her left. Credit: Katie Honan/THE CITY

Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su

Su worked for nearly two years as acting U.S. Secretary of Labor under former President Joe Biden. She also spent seven years as California’s labor secretary.

In her newly created role, she will oversee such agencies as the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Taxi & Limousine Commission to ensure fair wages and other worker protections.

Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine

Levine is the former director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and previously worked under FTC chair Lina Khan, who is a co-chair of Mamdani’s transition team.

His focus will be on wage theft, labor abuse and other economic issues for workers, the incoming mayor’s team said.

Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore

Bonsignore spent more than 30 years in the Fire Department and was chief of the department’s Emergency Medical Service operations during the pandemic, serving as the highest-ranking woman in the department.

Her appointment was praised by the unions representing EMS workers, who called it “historic” and a step towards ending inequity within the department.

Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Helen Arteaga

Arteaga, the chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst since 2021, was announced as deputy mayor at a press conference at the Queens hospital two days before Mamdani’s inauguration.

During her tenure, she secured necessary funding for major renovations at the hospital, including intensive care units and the labor and delivery suite.

At City Hall, she’ll work with multiple agencies including the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, and the department of Veterans Services.

Corporation Counsel Steven Banks

Banks will likely return to City Hall, where he previously served as commissioner of the Department of Social Services under former Mayor de Blasio, nominated as the city government’s top lawyer. The job requires City Council approval, which Mamdani said Tuesday was expected after he spoke with incoming Speaker Julie Menin.

Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks speaks with THE CITY about housing for homeless people, Aug. 22, 2019. Credit: Rachel Holliday Smith/THE CITY

Banks spent years at the Legal Aid Society as attorney-in-chief, and was pivotal to the landmark case to create the city’s right to shelter for families.

As corporation counsel, his focus will be on bringing on 200 attorneys to build back the city’s law department, Mamdani said, and ensuring pay parity across other city agencies.

Chief Counsel Ramzi Kassem

Kassem is currently a professor at the City University of New York School of Law, where he co-directs the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) program, where he recently represented students detained by ICE.

Kassem was one of the lawyers who represented detained activist Mahmoud Khalil.

He also worked as a senior policy advisor under former President Joe Biden.

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels

Samuels is currently the superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3, and also worked in Brooklyn’s District 13. He has experience with school mergers and the move away from gifted and talented programs, which can be racially segregated.

The United Federation of Teachers, which represents the city’s teachers, praised the selection. “As a former teacher and life-long educator, Kamar Samuels has the experience and perspective necessary to help our school system thrive,” UFT President Mike Mulgrew said in a statement Wednesday. Read more about Mamdani’s new pick to lead the city’s nearly 1 million public school students at Chalkbeat.

Deputy Mayor of Operations Julia Kerson

Kerson is currently the deputy director of infrastructure for Gov. Kathy Hochul. As the person in charge of operations in Mamdani’s City Hall, she will oversee city agencies like the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, in a role critical to the city’s infrastructure.

While working in the governor’s office, she worked on the Hudson Tunnel Program to build a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey and helped implement federal investment through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, among other initiatives.

Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani

Tigani was most recently the acting commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and returns to the buildings department, where he previously served as chief of staff.

Tigani was also a senior advisor focused on housing under former Mayor de Blasio and worked closely on neighborhood rezonings.

Executive Director of the Office of Child Care, Emmy Liss

Liss has spent years working in early childhood education, working with the Department of Education on its universal pre-K rollout under de Blasio. She was also previously a consultant with MicKinsey & Company.

Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung

Yeung was most recently the chief climate officer for former Comptroller Brad Lander, and also worked as the director of resiliency at the Department of Transportation.

In her role, she’ll lead the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, focused on resiliency efforts, flood protection, and the challenges of extreme weather.

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.