Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani swept into City Hall promising a clean break from the Eric Adams era. For nearly 200 political appointees, that initially meant a pink slip.
But the administration’s early attempt at a broad housecleaning is now facing a common city obstacle: union protections.
More than 30 of the 179 mayoral staffers who were notified they wouldn’t have a job in the next administration have formal civil service job titles that entitle them to internal administrative hearings if higher-ups try to fire or demote them.
And at least a few dozen of the staffers were on loan from city agencies — underscoring how often Mayor Eric Adams took agency employee budget lines for his own office.
They’ll leave City Hall but end up elsewhere, the Mamdani transition team said.
“Employees who hold civil service titles with lines at other agencies will return to their home agencies on Jan. 1,” Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mamdani’s transition, told THE CITY.
Some of those employees never worked at the agencies, and it’s unclear what role they’ll take at any of the dozens of agencies Adams tapped to staff City Hall.
A staff shakeup is common before new administrations start. But the Mamdani dismissal notices hit hard for some current employees who thought they had a shot at sticking around under the next mayor. Some of the fired employees even confronted Mamdani in an elevator inside a building near City Hall that houses both mayoral agencies and a transition office, according to multiple people familiar with the exchange.
Staffers were notified by their current bosses, who received word from the transition, that they would be out of their current jobs in 2026. But they haven’t received much else information, according to multiple people who spoke to THE CITY on the condition of anonymity.
The employees were instructed to formally resign by the end of the year before receiving a termination from the next mayor’s administration in the first days of his term, according to people familiar with the process.
“The incoming Mamdani administration’s first governmental mistake was laying off nearly 200 employees who have dedicated day and night to serving our city, and now they’re realizing they weren’t even allowed to terminate a few dozen union employees,” Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for Adams who was also on the list of 179, told THE CITY in a statement.
Pekec said after the staff was notified that “as is standard practice for a mayoral 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.”
A spokesperson for District Council 37, which represents many City Hall staffers, said the union is reviewing options for their members but is not shocked by the personnel changes.
“This isn’t abnormal and takes place with every new administration and elected office,” Thea Sotterbo said in a statement. “We’re following the contractual process and civil-service procedures and working with our members who were notified.”
The transition — which raised more than $3.5 million since Mamdani’s historic election on Nov. 4 — has announced an advisory team of more than 400 people, and also has a paid transition staff.
The mayor-elect has so far announced just a handful of staffers, most notably Dean Fuleihan, who will return to City Hall as first deputy mayor, and Elle Bisgaard-Church, who will serve as chief of staff.
Police commissioner Jessica Tisch is also staying in her role.
Other high-profile positions, like schools chancellor, have still not been made public. Fire Department Commissioner Robert Tucker announced earlier this year he’d leave at the end of December.
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