Mayor-elect Mamdani’s transition team opens online hiring portal as it looks to staff new City Hall

Zohran Mamdani is now hiring.

The mayor-elect’s transition team on Thursday launched an online hiring portal seeking potential staffers to apply as he builds his City Hall administration.

“As we begin the transition to a new era, this resume portal will allow us to roll up our sleeves, hit the ground running, and enact the agenda that got Zohran elected,” said Elana Leopold, the transition’s executive director, in a statement.

At the Wednesday morning press conference, where Mamdani announced his transition team, he pledged to staff his administration with figures who can make his affordability-focused platform a reality.

“My team and I will build a City Hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign,” Mamdani said during the Nov. 5 event. “We will form an administration that is capable and compassionate, driven by integrity, and willing to work just as hard as the millions of New Yorkers who call this city home.”

Given Mamdani’s lack of executive experience — he has served four years as a Queens Assembly member — he will face serious scrutiny over how he runs a city government of more than 300,000 employees and manages its $115 billion budget.

The portal, launched on Thursday, allows applicants to submit their resumes and indicate their “subject matter expertise” in areas such as climate, housing, and education. The form also allows prospective city government workers to indicate their skills, whether in project management, policy, or communications.

Grace Rauh, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union, complimented the transition’s move to launch a hiring portal in a Thursday social media post.

“This may seem basic, but it’s actually a strong sign that Mamdani intends to bring in new talent to city government and (perhaps most importantly) make it easy to apply for city jobs,” Rauh said.

The portal comes after Mamdani announced the five women leading his transition on Wednesday — a group of experienced bureaucrats, three of whom held leadership roles in past City Halls.

Its co-chairs include Maria Torres-Springer, former first deputy mayor to Mayor Eric Adams and a veteran of three mayoral administrations; Lina Khan, former Federal Trade Commission chair under ex-President Joe Biden; Melanie Hartzog, CEO of the nonprofit New York Foundling and a former deputy mayor; and Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of the United Way for New York City and former head of the city’s Human Resources Administration.

While Mamdani has yet to announce most of his picks for top leadership roles, such as first deputy mayor and Department of Education chancellor, he has indicated that he wants to keep current NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. However, it remains unclear whether Tisch, who was appointed by Adams last fall, intends to stay on past the end of the outgoing mayor’s term on December 31. Mamdani has not responded to any questions regarding whether he directly discussed the offer with Tisch.

How Mamdani will fill out the top ranks of his administration is sure to be one of the many things discussed among New York’s political class as he heads down to the annual SOMOS conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday.

According to a schedule released by Mamdani’s transition team, he will arrive in Puerto Rico by 6 p.m. Thursday to hold a press conference and host a welcome reception alongside New York State Attorney General Letitia James and District Council 37 President Henry Garrido.