Mamdani to appoint veteran transit leaders to DOT and Operations top spots

Incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Wednesday that Julia Kerson will be his new Deputy Mayor for Operations. Kerson is currently a deputy to the state director of operations, where she manages housing, economic development, energy, environment and transportation departments.

Previously, she worked at the MTA where she helped lead major projects including Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway. She also served on the city’s COVID-19 Response Team, helping to establish a hotel program for healthcare workers and individuals in need of a safe quarantine space, and negotiating and managing contracts for hotel acquisition and operation.

As part of her new role, Kerson will oversee the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Transportation (DOT), and New York City Emergency Management.

Mamdani said he will work closely with Kerson to manage issues in NYC that fall under her realm, including climate change and affordability.

“To deliver safe roads, clean streets, and fast buses, we need a Deputy Mayor of Operations who is experienced, hungry, and tireless in the pursuit of public excellence,” the mayor-elect said in a press release. “Julia Kerson has spent years delivering good-paying jobs, billions in economic productivity, and high-quality public infrastructure at the state level, and I am honored to have her join us to deliver the affordability agenda alongside us in City Hall.”

Mamdani is expected to also announce Mike Flynn on Wednesday as the new commissioner of the DOT, sources close to the matter told amNewYork. Flynn would replace the current department commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez.

Flynn is a member of the prominent NYC transit advocacy group, the Riders Alliance.

Betsy Plum, executive director of the Riders Alliance, said both administrative picks will help encourage more community engagement to improve safety and affordability with the transit system.

“This moment calls for a new way of engaging communities, one rooted in real organizing, where New Yorkers are partners in shaping bold, city-defining investments that make our neighborhoods safer, more affordable, and more connected,” Plum said, adding that the alliance is eager to work with a new DOT that will deliver on “stalled projects” from the current administration.

Plum also said that Mamdani’s call for free buses should be highlighted on the administration’s priorities list as a plan to put into action.

“Fast and free buses can’t be an aspiration tucked behind competing priorities. They must be the measure of success. A city that works for bus riders is a city that works for everyone, and we’ll be looking to this administration to make that standard real and to hold the entire system accountable for getting riders where they need to go, quickly and reliably.”

The news follows Mamdani’s appointment on Dec. 31 of Kamar Samuels, superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3, as chancellor of the city’s public schools.

amNewYork contacted Mamdani’s transition team for comment Flynn’s appointment, and is awaiting a response.