Being mayor of New York City is often described as the second toughest job in America. And for good reason. Because it’s not only America’s largest city. It’s the most diverse, with as many different opinions as there are New Yorkers.
As the top deputy in two different mayoral administrations, including under current Mayor Adams, I feel uniquely qualified to offer some advice to our Mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani. Full disclosure: I did not vote for him and do not support his socialist agenda. But I always root for our city to succeed, so I offer this advice in that spirit.
First and foremost, running a city as complex as New York isn’t just about ideology. To paraphrase our greatest mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, “there is no Republican or Democratic” — or Socialist — way to pick up the garbage.” At its core this job is about delivering basic city services. So our incoming mayor should be focusing on appointing his core government operations team — none of whom has been named yet, only “interim” holdovers from the Adams administration until Mamdani ultimately names permanent successors — instead of making symbolic appointments like a deputy mayor for “economic justice.”
Yes, Mamdani ran on affordability, but the highest priority for any mayor should be to keep our city safe. The Adams administration achieved massive reductions in major crime, including the lowest rate of shootings in city history. And Mamdani has wisely reappointed Adams’ police commissioner. Next, he needs to put his campaign’s anti-police rhetoric behind him. He needs to show he is committed to public safety and supports the work the NYPD does to keep us all safe. No mayor has succeeded who saw crime rise on his watch. Mamdani should keep Adams’ commitment to fund 5,000 more cops.
At the heart of affordability is producing affordable housing. Mamdani just appointed Adams’ housing director as his deputy mayor for housing, and she has been integral to producing and creating through rezonings unprecedented amounts of affordable housing over the past four years — more than 400,000 units. Now comes the hard part. Mamdani must honor his promise to accelerate the production of such housing beyond those record rates.
A key lever to affordability is economic opportunity. That requires a strong local economy that produces jobs, which the Adams administration has taken to record levels, resulting in the highest number of jobs in city history — more than 4.86 million. Free buses, zero rent increases, and increased taxes on the top 1% make for catchy campaign slogans. But in governing, a balance must be struck between those needing jobs and those producing them, so all are benefitting from and contributing to our local economy. This isn’t an “us against them” scenario. We are all in it together.
Quality of life matters to New Yorkers. Our streets and parks are now cleaner. Containerization of garbage has reduced the rat population. And interventions have gotten more than 3,500 homeless off our streets, but not enough. Mamdani now says he will allow homeless encampments that the Adams administration removed. That hasn’t worked in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it won’t work here. It is not humane to leave distressed homeless in encampments on our streets — especially in the dead of winter — instead of getting them housing and services they need.
Antisemitism is raging in our city and around the world. Today, there are more hate crimes committed against Jews in New York than against all other groups combined. And there are more Jews who live here than any other city in the world. That is why Adams created a mayor’s office to combat antisemitism — a first in the nation. Jews have felt threatened by recent protests outside synagogues. Mamdani can allay their fears by preserving the mayor’s office to combat antisemitism, and by declaring those who oppose the Israeli government should not be attributing its actions to all Jews or demanding the state of Israel cease to exist. He needs to show that we will remain a city of inclusion that embraces and protects every community.
Finally, a bare majority of New Yorkers elected Mamdani to deliver on what he promised. They will understand course corrections made on reflection after “on the job” experience. But they will expect him to keep his core campaign promises. They will hold him accountable if he doesn’t, and then judge him on whether those initiatives produce the promised results.
Mastro is the first deputy mayor of New York City. He is the first person in modern city history to serve as the top deputy mayor and acting mayor in two different administrations (Giuliani and Adams).
