New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced an all-female transition team on Wednesday, hours after winning a race in which he campaigned as a fresh face.
The group he introduced, however, includes some familiar names — veterans of New York’s current and previous Democratic mayoral administrations, as well as that of former President Joe Biden.
Here’s a look at who’s leading the plans for Mamdani, a democratic socialist, to take office:
Lina Khan, former Federal Trade Commission chair
Khan, who served as FTC chair under Biden, is known for going after corporate giants, specifically by enforcing antitrust laws, and for trying to lower prescription drug costs by targeting pharmacy benefit managers. On her watch, the FTC sued Amazon and Meta, alleging monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. She has made enemies with billionaires like Elon Musk, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and IAC and Expedia Group Chairman Barry Diller.
Khan resigned almost immediately after President Donald Trump took office earlier this year.
Melanie Hartzog, former New York City deputy mayor
Hartzog, who will serve as co-chair of the transition team and the team’s director, is deeply familiar with City Hall. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed her deputy mayor for health and human services. Before that, she was the director of the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, where she oversaw the largest municipal budget in the country.
Elana Leopold, political strategist
Leopold, also a de Blasio alum, was a senior Mamdani campaign adviser and will serve as the transition team’s executive director.
Maria Torres-Springer, former first deputy mayor
Torres-Springer served as first deputy mayor in current Mayor Eric Adams’ administration before she resigned this year after he was indicted on federal bribery and campaign finance charges. (Adams denied wrongdoing, and a federal judge dismissed his case at the urging of the Justice Department.)
Like Hartzog, Torres-Springer has held several roles in municipal government, including deputy mayor for housing, economic development and workforce, and Department of Housing Preservation & Development commissioner.
Grace Bonilla, nonprofit president
Bonilla is president and CEO of United Way of New York City. She previously held several roles in the administrations of de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg.
Bonilla was appointed by de Blasio to serve as executive director of a new task force on racial equity and inclusion. For Bloomberg, Bonilla served as deputy commissioner overseeing the Office of Community Affairs and Immigrant Services, and as assistant deputy commissioner with the Office of Constituent Services.
CORRECTION (Nov. 5, 2025, 6 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the circumstances surrounding Lina Khan’s departure from the FTC. A representative for Khan said she voluntarily resigned shortly after Trump took office, independent of any threats to her job.
