Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named a veteran city and state government insider as his No. 2 on Monday — and sources said he’ll be “crucial” to making the socialist’s budget-busting dreams come true.
The 34-year-old Mamdani – who ran on galvanizing young New Yorkers – announced he will be bringing on veteran civil servant Dean Fuleihan, 74, as his first deputy mayor, responsible for day-to-day operations.
Fuleihan has shown he isn’t worried about ballooning spending as he oversaw a 15% budget increase over Bill de Blasio’s first term as the then-mayor’s fiscal guru.
The seasoned political adviser, who served as first deputy mayor in de Blasio’s second term, also knows all about Albany’s backroom dealings from his days working for shady former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
His appointment marks the first major staffing decision for the incoming Mamdani administration that needs support from Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to drum up more than $10 billion for a lofty socialist agenda – a vision that Fuleihan endorsed.
“I firmly believe in this agenda,” Fuleihan said alongside Mamdani at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House on the Upper East Side, adding he “will work every day to make it happen.”
“We know there are challenges here, and that’s what this is all about,” he said, noting his experience working with the governor and both houses of the state Legislature on fiscal plans.
Mamdani also named his longtime top aide and right-hand in the state Assembly, Elle Bisgaard-Church, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialists of America member, as his chief of staff.
“I know their reputations and records of accomplishment are proof of the intent to deliver tangible change,” Mamdani said as he revealed both appointments, standing under a symbolically resonant giant portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Fuleihan, who had been advising Mamdani on his mayoral campaign, boasts a resume that positions him both as a progressive champion and the ultimate government insider, getting his start in the late 1970s as Silver’s budget chief.
He was appointed as the city’s budget director in 2013 and was lauded by de Blasio at the time as a “true progressive” following a more than three-decade run in Albany.
Over Fuleihan’s four-year stint as fiscal boss, New York City’s budget surged from $73.9 billion to nearly $85 billion, with some members of the City Council ripping the administration for not saving enough to navigate cuts under a Trump presidency.
He then served as de Blasio’s right-hand, when the city saw an additional about 3.5% budget increase, to $88.19 billion. The city’s budget has surged another approximately 14% in Mayor Eric Adams’ term, from $98.7 billion to $112.4 billion, according to the latest estimates for 2025.
The septuagenarian public servant re-enters Big Apple politics at a similar time as both the city and state await the effects of the impending federal funding cuts that could hinder Mamdani’s campaign promises, including free buses and universal childcare.
Bill Cunningham, a longtime strategist who was a former official in Michael Bloomberg’s administration, called Fuleihan a key appointment.
“From his time with the Assembly budget office, he certainly knows the fiscal geography of the state, as well as the city. And that will be crucial for the new administration,” he said.
Mamdani has Hochul’s backing when it comes to rolling out free childcare, but the two have yet to figure out how to pick up the $6 billion to $8 billion tab. She has also made clear she doesn’t support parts of Mamdani’s agenda, including hiking taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and making buses free.
Hochul, who named Fuleihan to the New York State Financial Control Board in June 2024, gave his ascension her seal of approval, calling it a “great choice and a win for New Yorkers.”
“Dean Fuleihan is a steady, principled public servant who has dedicated his career to making government work for New Yorkers,” she posted on X.
“His experience and integrity will be invaluable in this role.”
Fuleihan’s appointment also drew praise from New York City political insiders, including at least one prominent Republican.
“This is a good move. Dean is a serious person. Will be a steady hand,” former City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) posted on X.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) trotted out Fuleihan’s lengthy resume as he called it an “exceptional appointment in more ways than one.”
“There are few people on earth who know the workings of city and state government as deeply as Dean Fuleihan, who has served as the First Deputy Mayor of NYC, the Director of NYC OMB, the chief fiscal advisor to the Assembly Speaker, and a seasoned negotiator on the state budget,” Torres posted on X.
“I think that Dean is in a position to serve any mayoral administration,” said Emma Wolfe, former top adviser to de Blasio. “Given his background in fiscal and policy, I think he’ll be a valuable public official.”
Mamdani after winning last week’s mayoral election has so far publicly surrounded himself with veteran government officials — such as his five-person transition leadership team — rather than the young, DSA-allied staff and volunteers who helped propel him to victory.
Insiders had been gossiping for weeks about whom Mamdani would tap as his first deputy, with current planning commissioner Dan Garodnick and another de Blasio first deputy mayor, Anthony Shorris, topping the list.
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Outgoing City Comptroller Brad Lander thought he had the role locked up after forming an alliance with Mamdani in the final days of the Democratic primary — boasting that he would be the influential adult in the room in City Hall, sources said.
But, according to sources, the democratic socialist wasn’t too impressed with Lander, describing his schtick as the good government policy wonk as a mere act.
The highly-anticipated appointment of Bisgaard-Church, the architect of his insurgent campaign, was more in line with Mamdani’s DSA principles.
“As we work to turn the page on a politics devoid of ambition, and beholden to special interests, it is incumbent on us to fill this administration with experienced people at all levels, who have been on the right side of this fight,” she said.
Most of Mamdani’s moves so far have brought former de Blasio administration veterans back into power.
But his transition co-chair Melanie Hartzog, herself a de Blasio vet, maintained the incoming administration won’t be a rehash.
“I say it’s a new mayor, a new agenda, a new commitment, a new energy about the city,” she told PIX11. “I do not see this as a de Blasio 2.0.”
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