Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani tapped two veterans of housing and labor coverage to key deputy roles in his incoming administration on Friday.
Leila Bozorg shall be Mamdani’s deputy mayor for housing and Julie Su shall be his deputy mayor for financial justice, he introduced at a press convention on Staten Island.
Mamdani, who’s set to take workplace Jan. 1, stated Bozgorg and Su will have the ability to work as companions who shall be centered on finishing up key facets of his push to make the town extra inexpensive.
“I am eager to measure our success by one simple metric: How many forgotten New Yorkers feel themselves now represented in City Hall,” Mamdani stated in describing the appointments, “and how many people across the city feel their lives measurably improved by those fortunate enough to serve them.”
Bozorg is at present Metropolis Corridor’s govt director of housing underneath Mayor Adams. Prior, she served in numerous positions throughout metropolis authorities, together with as a deputy commissioner on the Division of Housing Preservation and Growth underneath ex-Mayor Invoice de Blasio.
Su was the appearing U.S. Division of Labor secretary underneath President Biden.
Her function is new, having not beforehand existed underneath earlier mayors. Her portfolio will embrace overseeing the Taxi & Limousine Fee in addition to the Departments of Small Enterprise Providers and Shopper and Employee Safety, amongst different companies.
Bozorg shall be tasked with spearheading the Mamdani administration’s housing insurance policies, which incorporates guarantees to construct tens of hundreds of latest rent-stabilized models. He has additionally promised to freeze rents for stabilized tenants.
Spencer Platt/Getty Pictures
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani finishes a information convention in Staten Island after saying two deputy mayors on Friday. Mamdani introduced Leila Bozorg (proper) as his deputy mayor for housing. (Photograph by Spencer Platt/Getty Pictures)
The appointments of Bozorg and Su come sooner or later after Mamdani confronted a setback in his transition course of.
Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who was named Mamdani’s Metropolis Corridor director of appointments on Wednesday, introduced Thursday that she would not be part of his administration after decade-old social media posts she made offensive to Jewish individuals surfaced.
Requested in regards to the Da Costa flub, Mamdani instructed reporters at Friday’s press convention that he’s “making changes” to his transition staff’s vetting course of for appointments. He additionally stated he was not conscious of Da Costa’s posts.
“I made clear that those comments were reprehensible,” he stated. “She expressed a deep sense of remorse. She offered to resign, and I accepted.”
