Zohran Mamdani fires 179 City Hall staffers from Eric Adams admin weeks before taking mayoral office
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has asked 179 City Hall employees to resign. Most of them were appointed by Eric Adams. The democratic socialist's actions suggest that he is serious about reshaping the administration and may continue making additional changes.
According to Dora Pekec, spokesperson for Mamdani, this is “standard practice for a mayoral transition," and "which includes new staff in key roles to ensure they can deliver effectively on their agenda.” The decision was taken on Tuesday, November 25.
Some people are unhappy with the changes, and Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy said that even if longtime employees think differently, many still supported and voted for Mamdani.
City Hall staffers told their last day will be January 1, 2026
These requests are mainly for people who work in City Hall's offices. This includes staff in intergovernmental affairs, communications, and other departments run by the deputy mayors, as per ABC7NY.
Some of these employees were hired even before Eric Adams became mayor. Now, all of them have been told that their last day will be January 1, 2026. Mamdani is making these changes as he prepares to take office in a little under six weeks.
He has already chosen Dean Fuleihan to be his first deputy mayor. He is also keeping Jessica Tisch as the police commissioner. On Monday, Mamdani announced a large transition advisory group of about 400 people, split into 17 committees, as per The New York Times.
Mamdani’s transition team includes a diverse group of New Yorkers. It is led by five women, including former first deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer.
“As is standard practice for a mayoral transition, the mayor-elect and his transition team are working to build their City Hall plan, which includes new staff in key roles to ensure they can deliver effectively on their agenda,” Pekec said in a statement.
Fabien Levy says longtime workers deserved a chance to fight for their jobs
Fabien Levy reacted strongly to the news. He said he understands that a new mayor gets to bring in new staff, but he was surprised by how this transition is being handled.
"Every administration can choose their own team. I think it's surprising that so many people were not given the opportunity to fight for their jobs. That's what's surprising," Levy said.
He added that many of the workers may have even supported Mamdani during the election, and still should have been able to interview for new roles instead of being suddenly removed.
"I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people in this building voted for mayor-elect Mamdani. That's totally fine. And so they should have been given an opportunity to interview for a job," Levy said.
"Instead, they were told yesterday and today that they're going to be laid off come January 1st," Levy said. He also pointed out that some long-serving employees have worked under several past mayors and have devoted years to helping the city through major crises.
"We have people on my team, specifically, that have been here since the Dinkins Administration. That's Dinkins, Giuliani, Bloomberg, de Blasio, Adams. Those people are all not the same. They don't all have the same politics," Levy said.
"They were on the front lines of responding to COVID. They were on the front lines of responding to the asylum seeker crisis. They've done so much more for the city over the years and years of service they've given," he concluded.
