Socialist Democratic New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named his administration’s two top advisers, as he gears up to lead the Big Apple in a decidedly left-wing direction that may cause some residents to bolt.
Mamdani announced his current chief of staff, Elle Bisgaard-Church, a fellow Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, will stay in the role when he becomes mayor. He also said that his incoming first deputy mayor will be Dean Fuleihan, who served in the same role during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s second term. The mayor-elect introduced Bisgaard-Church, 34, and Fuleihan, 74, at a Monday press conference where he expressed the need to “transform” the city and deliver on his host of left-wing campaign promises.
A veteran campaign strategist told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he thinks Mamdani’s longtime right-hand woman and the de Blasio-era bureaucrat will “support each other” in the avowed socialist’s plan to remake New York City in his image.
“If you are a radical who is intent on blowing up the system and turning it into a socialist utopia, you need someone that understands the regulations, the laws and the things that are currently on the books that you have to change,” Marc Lotter, the co-host of “Wake Up America” on Newsmax TV who served on President Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns told the DCNF in an interview. (RELATED: ‘Angry Mamdani’: Socialist Mayor-To-Be Braces For Harsh Reality Check, Analysts Say)
“You just can’t come in and do it. Even if you’re doing it by executive order or working through the council, you’ve got to still know what to change and how to do it. So, you need someone who is a tactician as well as someone who is a fully-fledged partner in the hammer and sickle to make this possible,” Lotter added, referring to a well-known communist symbol.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – NOVEMBER 7: New York City Mayor elect Zohran Mamdani in white shirt, speaks to members of the Centro Islamico on November 7, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Angel Valentin/Getty Images)
During the Monday press conference, Mamdani described Bisgaard-Church, who managed his successful June 24 Democratic primary campaign, as “unparalleled.”
“Few have played a more central role in this movement or in every victory we achieved together in the [New York State] Assembly than Elle,” the mayor-elect said.
“The incoming administration offers bold vision combined with determined realism,” Bisgaard-Church said at the same press conference. “We are imaginative in our outlook energized by the work and to work very hard and deeply invested in the future of this great city, because we will be here a long time.”
Mamdani’s team described Bisgaard-Church as the “chief architect” of the mayor-elect’s proposed Department of Community Safety, CBS News reported Monday. The planned department seeks to replace some police officers with “outreach workers” at subway stations across the city.