Mamdani's all female transition team includes 3 Bill de Blasio alums, Biden FTC chair

Socialist Mayor-elect of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, has announced that he has an all-female transition team as he takes over City Hall in the Big Apple. The transition team announcement came just hours after he was announced as the winner of the mayoral race in New York earlier this week.

“In the coming months, I and my team will build a city hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign,” Mamdani told reporters when he announced the team. “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."

The transition team includes former FTC Commission Chair Lina Khan, the former NYC deputy mayor Melanie Hartzog, political strategist Elana Lepold, former first deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer, and CEO of nonprofit United Way of New York City Grace Bonilla.

Lina Khan

Khan served as the chair of the FTC under former President Joe Biden and is known for going after businesses with antitrust law. During her time in the role, the FTC faced allegations that the organization was undermining agency independence as well as collaborating with foreign regulators to undermine companies based in the US. In addition to those allegations, there were claims that Khan pushed aside staff in favor fresh personnel from dark money nonprofit groups funded by Democrat megadonors.

During her time at the FTC, morale at the agency plummeted, with 94.3 percent of staff approving top leadership in 2020, but that declined to 51.7 percent in 2021 and dropped further to 46.6 percent in 2022.

GOP strategist Colin Reed said of Khan, "Former FTC Chair Lina Khan became synonymous with her hostility toward businesses large and small during the Biden Administration and one of the ringleaders of Bidenomics. Already the incoming mayor is breaking one of his core promises to shake up the status quo and usher in a new day," per Fox News.

Melanie Hartzog

Hartzog will be serving as the co-chair of the transition team as well as the director for the group. Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed her to be the deputy mayor for health and human services. Prior to that role, she was the director at the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget.

Hartzog was deeply involved in rolling out NYC's Covid-19 vaccine mandate. When the mandate for New Yorkers was announced, she called it a "critical" step in ending the pandemic. All government workers under de Blasio and Hartzog were required by law to get the vaccine, or they risked losing their jobs.

Elana Leopold

Leopold will serve as the transition team's executive director and was a senior advisor to Mamdani's campaign after working as a longtime aide for de Blasio.

Maria Torres-Springer

Torres-Springer was the first deputy mayor in NYC Mayor Eric Adams' administration, but she resigned earlier this year when Adams was indicted on bribery charges. The appointee has held multiple governmental roles. She is also one of the three on the transition team that has worked for the city under the de Blasio administration. She served as the commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services. She will also be co-chair of the Mamdani transition team.