Fuleihan expressed optimism about working with Gov. Kathy Hochul, even after she expressed concerns about funding Mamdani’s plans for free buses and universal child care.
“I’ve been told many times in the past things could not happen, and directly. And that’s not what we’re being told. We’re being told, let’s have a conversation, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Fuleihan said.
Asked if he was willing to compromise on free buses for all and expand the existing Fair Fares program for low-income New Yorkers instead, Mamdani held firm. “I’m just as excited as I was about free buses today as I was more than a year ago,” he said.
In the meantime, Mamdani will work on filling out an administration before he’s inaugurated on Jan. 1. While he has said he’ll consider retaining members of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, Bisgaard-Church criticized the outgoing mayor, saying the new administration will work “to turn the page on a politics devoid of ambition and beholden to special interests.”
Fuleihan was widely expected to have a top role in the administration after advising Mamdani ahead of the primary and through the general election.
A longtime Assembly aide under former Speaker Sheldon Silver, Fuleihan served as de Blasio’s budget director for his first term before being promoted to first deputy mayor in 2018.
That Mamdani would pull from the appointees of de Blasio, who New Yorkers widely disapproved of when he left office, earned some criticism from the likes of Renu Mukherjee, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.
“Nothing screams ‘a New Era for NYC’ like appointing Bill de Blasio’s First Deputy Mayor to be your First Deputy Mayor, am I right?” she posted on X.
But it was primarily praise that poured in for both appointments, particularly Fuleihan who Hochul heralded in an X post as “a great choice and a win for New Yorkers.” Rep. Ritchie Torres called it “an exceptional appointment in more ways than one.”
Fuleihan was also complimented by some who have worked with him before, like Eric Phillips, a Democratic consultant who previously served as de Blasio’s press secretary.
“Dean is exactly the person Mr. Mamdani needs. He has an unrivaled command of city and state government and he has the rare blend of heart and head needed to tackle serious problems,” Phillips said in a statement. “Dean’s wise and kind, which few people in politics are.”
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