Mamdani transition team to include Maria Torres-Springer, Adams aide who resigned over indictment

On the heels of his historic victory in this year’s race for City Hall, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that his transition team will be headed by Maria Torres-Springer, Mayor Adams’ former top aide.

Torres-Springer, who resigned as Adams’ first deputy mayor earlier this year over concerns about his federal corruption indictment, will serve as the co-chair of Mamdani’s transition together with three other veterans of federal and city governments: ex-Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan, United Way CEO Grace Bonilla and former Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Melanie Hartzog.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s mayoral election by a 10% margin, made the announcement at a press conference in front of the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Wednesday morning. Elana Leopold, an alum of the de Blasio administration, is expected to serve as his transition’s executive director.

“Throughout this campaign, I have worked hard to be accessible and transparent with New Yorkers,” the mayor-elect said, standing alongside his new transition leaders. “That same spirit will animate this transition and the City Hall we build because New Yorkers deserve a government that they can trust.”

Mamdani said he plans to announce over the coming days more transition team members spanning organizers, City Hall veterans and policy experts to work on implementing his campaign promises of freezing rent for tenants in stabilized apartments, implementing citywide free buses and establishing universal childcare.

“He and I share an undimmed belief in government’s capacity to deliver for working people, an undimmed belief in public servant’s capacity to not just meet, not even just exceed, but defy expectations,” Torres-Springer said of Mamdani.

Torres-Springer was among four deputy mayors who resigned from Adams’ administration in February 2025 after informing him they were concerned about his ability to govern following an unusual decision by President Trump’s Justice Department to move to drop Adams’ corruption indictment so he could better help with the administration’s immigration policy.

In addition to policy issues, Mamdani’s transition team is expected to get to work on identifying and interviewing candidates for top appointments in his administration.

Mamdani said he’s planning on hiring members of the Democratic Socialists of America, but didn’t make any specific commitments. Currently, his leadership team does not include members with specific expertise in education or public safety. He has said he would like NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on, but she has not announced her plans yet.

Mamdani is set to be sworn in on Jan. 1 as the youngest mayor in over a century as well as the most left-leaning in a generation.

“The poetry of campaigning may have come to a close last night at 9, but the beautiful prose of governing has only just begun,” Mamdani said at the Unisphere, using a quote attributed to the late ex-Gov. Mario Cuomo, the father of Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani said he has not yet heard directly from Adams, but that he is “looking forward” to speaking with the outgoing mayor “to ensure that the handover is a seamless one.”

For his part, Adams issued a strong message to Mamdani on social media Wednesday morning: “Don’t f**k it up.”

Todd Shapiro, a spokesman for Adams, later said the mayor will “be working together” with Mamdani on the transition.