Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named two deputy mayors to his incoming administration on Friday, a day after one of his most recent appointments resigned over past antisemitic social media posts.
Leila Bozorg, Mayor Eric Adams’ current executive director of housing, will serve as Mamdani’s deputy mayor for housing and planning, while former acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su will become deputy mayor for economic justice, the mayor-elect said at a press conference.
What You Need To Know
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- Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Friday named Leila Bozorg as his deputy mayor for housing and planning and Julie Su as his deputy mayor for economic justice, a newly created role
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- Bozorg has been a driving force behind Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” housing initiative, while Su served as acting U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Joe Biden
- Mamdani’s announcement came a day after one of his most recent appointments resigned over past antisemitic social media posts. The mayor elect said his team is making changes to its vetting process
Bozorg has been a driving force behind Adams’ “City of Yes” housing initiative, which Mamdani previously said he considered one of the outgoing mayor’s accomplishments.
“Today, I am so proud to appoint two deputy mayors, who will not only work to deliver the affordability agenda that resonated with so many New Yorkers, but will lead the implementation of that new, more expansive approach to governance,” Mamdani said.
Before Adams named Bozorg executive director of housing in late 2023, she held several positions at the city and federal level, serving as a city planning commissioner at the city’s Department of City Planning and as senior policy adviser at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama, the mayor-elect said in a release.
“In Leila, New Yorkers will be able to place their trust in a public servant with a proven record of achievement, who has confronted the housing crisis with the urgency it demands,” Mamdani said. “I am so eager to work with her to overhaul the housing landscape across our city, provide lower costs for New Yorkers, and make the city somewhere that many are able to call home again.”
The deputy mayor for economic justice role, meanwhile, is a newly created role, Mamdani noted.
“This is a new position, with a vast remit: to tackle the inequality that too often permeates across our city, to go after unfair labor practices and corporate abuses, and above all, to build a city that puts workers and consumers before profit,” he said. “This is a powerful role, and it demands a leader who has extensive experience fighting and winning on the largest stages.”
Su’s job will bring several city agencies together, including the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Department of Cultural Affairs.
“As an example, just the other day, the City Council passed legislation that would protect for-hire drivers from the threat of unfair deactivation,” Mamdani said. “To actually fulfill that legislation will require a DCWP that is committed to doing the enforcement work, and a deputy mayor for economic justice that actually brings that to the finish line. That’s one example of what our deputy mayor will be focusing on.”
Mamdani’s “World Cup czar” will report to the deputy mayor for economic justice, he added.
“That speaks to a vision of an event that could otherwise simply be considered a sporting event or a tourism event, but also an event that will ensure it is deeply connected to the lives of working people across the city,” he said.
Friday’s appointments came as the mayor-elect faces questions about his transition team’s vetting process for key administration roles.
His pick for director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, tendered her resignation a day after Mamdani named her to the role and apologized for antisemitic Twitter posts from more than a decade ago that recently came to light.
Politico reported that she made the comments at ages 19 and 20.
“As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation,” Da Costa said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters after his announcement Friday, Mamdani said his team was “currently underway at making changes in our vetting process.”
“Our administration will operate under a standard of excellence, and setting that standard is not only about fulfilling it, it’s also about holding yourself accountable when you are not doing so,” he said. “There are clear changes that need to be made, and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now.”
Asked if he was aware of Da Costa’s tweets when he appointed her — or whether he would have followed through with the appointment had he known — Mamdani said: “No on both.”
“I was not aware of these posts, and I would not have hired her,” he added.
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