Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani tapped two veterans of housing and labor policy to key deputy roles in his incoming administration on Friday.
Leila Bozorg will be Mamdani’s deputy mayor for housing and Julie Su will be his deputy mayor for economic justice, he announced at a press conference on Staten Island.
Mamdani, who’s set to take office Jan. 1, said Bozgorg and Su will be able to work as partners who will be focused on carrying out key aspects of his push to make the city more affordable.
“I am eager to measure our success by one simple metric: How many forgotten New Yorkers feel themselves now represented in City Hall,” Mamdani said 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 currently City Hall’s executive director of housing under Mayor Adams. Prior, she served in various positions across city government, including as a deputy commissioner at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development under ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Su was the acting U.S. Department of Labor secretary under President Biden.
Her role is new, having not previously existed under previous mayors. Her portfolio will include overseeing the Taxi & Limousine Commission as well as the Departments of Small Business Services and Consumer and Worker Protection, among other agencies.
Bozorg will be tasked with spearheading the Mamdani administration’s housing policies, which includes promises to build tens of thousands of new rent-stabilized units. He has also promised to freeze rents for stabilized tenants.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani finishes a news conference in Staten Island after announcing two deputy mayors on Friday. Mamdani announced Leila Bozorg (right) as his deputy mayor for housing. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The appointments of Bozorg and Su come one day after Mamdani faced a setback in his transition process.
Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who was named Mamdani’s City Hall director of appointments on Wednesday, announced Thursday that she would no longer join his administration after decade-old social media posts she made offensive to Jewish people surfaced.
Asked about the Da Costa flub, Mamdani told reporters at Friday’s press conference that he’s “making changes” to his transition team’s vetting process for appointments. He also said he was not aware of Da Costa’s posts.
“I made clear that those comments were reprehensible,” he said. “She expressed a deep sense of remorse. She offered to resign, and I accepted.”
