NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani Appoints Fiscal Policy Veteran as Deputy Mayor

Zohran Mamdani, the incoming democratic-socialist mayor of New York City, on Monday appointed a veteran fiscal official, Dean Fuleihan, to serve as his first deputy mayor and implement a policy plan.

Fuleihan, 74, has four decades of government experience, including prior roles as budget director and deputy mayor under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and has served in roles in fiscal and policy capacities in the state Legislature, based in Albany.

Mamdani also appointed Elle Bisgaard-Church, a principal campaign strategist and his chief of staff in the state Assembly, to lead his City Hall staff operations. He also announced earlier this month an all-women transition team.

During a press briefing on Monday, Mamdani pledged to “create a new City Hall,” underscoring that he would need both experienced leaders and outside voices to do so.

“It is important when we are undertaking the work of transforming politics in our city, that we do so both with a relentless imagination as to what politics could be, and a fluency of what politics has been,” he said. “And what I so appreciate about both of those standing next to me is that they have displayed those two skills in spades.”

Mamdani, who at 34 will become the youngest New York City mayor in decades, also said he plans to retain the incumbent police commissioner, Jessica Tisch. She has yet to make a public statement on whether she would accept.

Mamdani has advocated for taxpayer-financed child care, public transit, and grocery stores. He drew criticism from his own party. For instance, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t see a path for his free bus plan.

“I cannot set forth a plan right now that takes money out of a system that relies on the fares of the buses and the subways,” she said.

Fuleihan will oversee the city’s complex obligations, including the city’s fiscal bureau and managerial divisions. He has served as an adviser to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and as the Legislature’s treasurer, which could give Mamdani an inroad to state legislators and the governor for matters that require their approval.

Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral election last week with more than 50 percent of the vote on a platform of restoring power to the working class.

President Donald Trump lamented Mamdani’s victory while speaking at a business forum on Nov. 5 in Miami.

“We lost a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York, but we’ll take care of it,” Trump said.

He went on to accuse Democrats of supporting communism.

“If you want to see what congressional Democrats wish to do to America, just look at the result of yesterday’s election in New York, where their party installed a communist as the mayor of the largest city in the nation,” Trump said.

Trump initially threatened to cut off federal support for New York City if Mamdani won the election, and supported former New York City mayor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, but on Wednesday, Trump changed his position.

He declared that the “Marxist socialists and globalists” had their opportunity in New York, and it led to “disaster,” but that his administration will still assist New Yorkers.

“We’re going to see how that works out,” the president said. “We‘ll help them. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help them a little bit.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.