From First Deputy Mayor to department commissioners, a new power structure takes shape at City Hall
City Hall Has a New Team. Here Is Who Is Running What.
Zohran Mamdani ran for mayor as an outsider and won. But governing New York City, a municipal enterprise with a $110 billion budget, 300,000 employees, and an administrative structure of staggering complexity, requires not just a mayor with a vision but an administration capable of executing it. Two months into his term, the key players are in place. Some are familiar names from prior administrations. Others are new to city government entirely. Understanding who they are and what they control is essential to understanding how Mamdani’s agenda will actually be implemented.
The Executive Core
First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan is the administration’s chief operating officer in practice if not in title. Fuleihan served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Mayor Bill de Blasio and brings deep institutional knowledge of city finance and administration. He is the primary interlocutor between Mamdani’s policy ambitions and the fiscal reality of the city’s budget. Chief of Staff Elle Bisgaard-Church manages the internal operations of City Hall and serves as the primary gatekeeper for the mayor’s schedule, relationships, and decision-making process. Her background is in progressive organizing, not city administration, a choice that signals the mayor intends to run City Hall differently than his predecessors.
The Deputy Mayor Structure
According to the comprehensive administration guide published by City and State NY, the deputy mayor portfolio breaks down as follows. Julia Kerson handles Operations, overseeing city infrastructure and service delivery. Leila Bozorg, a longtime housing policy expert, runs Housing and Planning, a combined portfolio that signals the administration’s intention to treat housing as an integrated challenge rather than siloed between agencies. Julie Su, who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Biden, takes the Economic Justice portfolio, giving the Mamdani administration direct access to federal labor policy expertise and national network connections. Helen Arteaga oversees Health and Human Services, managing the largest portfolio of social service agencies in the city’s government.
The Commissioners: Continuity and Change
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch was retained from the prior administration, a deliberate signal by Mamdani that his Department of Community Safety proposal, which would restructure public safety governance, does not reflect dissatisfaction with Tisch’s operational management. Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore was also retained. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels is a new appointment, replacing David Banks. Samuels comes from a background in equity-focused school leadership and has been tasked with implementing Mamdani’s education agenda including the 2-K child care expansion. DSS Commissioner Erin Dalton, Health Commissioner Alister Martin, DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn, Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, HPD Commissioner Dina Levy, and OMB Director Sherif Soliman round out the core cabinet.
The Significance of Julie Su
The appointment of Julie Su deserves particular attention. Su was confirmed as acting U.S. Secretary of Labor by the Biden administration but was never confirmed by the Senate due to Republican opposition. Her appointment to the Mamdani administration’s Economic Justice portfolio brings to New York City someone with both federal-level labor policy expertise and a specific commitment to worker rights, immigration-inclusive labor organizing, and domestic worker protections. Advocates at National Employment Law Project have called the Su appointment the strongest signal yet that the Mamdani administration intends to make workers rights a central axis of its economic agenda, not just a campaign talking point.
What the Team Reveals About the Agenda
Reading the appointments collectively, several themes emerge. The administration values operational experience combined with progressive policy credentials. It has deliberately recruited people with national-level experience and networks, suggesting Mamdani intends New York to play a larger role in national policy debates. And the combined Housing and Planning deputy mayor position, under Leila Bozorg, signals that the administration sees housing supply, land use, and affordability as inseparable challenges that must be managed together. Whether this team can deliver on Mamdani’s ambitious agenda against the constraints of the city’s fiscal situation is the question that the next twelve months will begin to answer.
