Mayor to Mayor: Some Advice for Zohran

Zohran Mamdani is about to discover what I learned the hard way: No one can be truly prepared for the tsunami-like dynamics of transitioning from an ordinary human to a leader of a city of 8.5 million people. So let me talk about my experience as a two-term mayor of New York City and offer some advice (or at least some comfort) to Zohran and his team as they begin their extraordinary governance journey.

There are four areas that can make or break a city hall’s first year: team, simplicity, speed and authenticity.

Let me break them down.

Team: When I began having focused conversations with Zohran earlier this year, I was struck by the depth and thoughtfulness with which he absorbed the advice. He was always big picture oriented and had historical foundations when it came to understanding the role of a mayor. And observing his contact with experienced and insightful people, regardless of ideological differences, I became confident that he would not make the mistake of simply hiring from those close to him.

It’s easy and comfortable to surround yourself with long-time followers. But the best strategy is to retain a core of trusted true believers while seeking highly experienced talent for other roles. This is the best way to serve the people of New York City, while fighting against the “hostile encirclement” that the status quo imposes in business, politics and the media in an attempt to strangle Mamdani’s vision and success.

Simplicity: There’s no place as fast-paced and dynamic as New York City Hall. Every day is a battle to preserve a proactive program against attacks, crises and incessant shootings. In this context, complexity poses a profound danger. Anything that unnecessarily slows down the agenda can be fatal to the overall equation of constantly building on successes and developing political capital.

Fortunately, no candidate in recent memory has kept their vision as simple and focused as Zohran Mamdani. The key, especially in the beginning, is to maintain that momentum amid the surging waves of daily challenges involved in running our city.

I unoriginally (but, I believe, effectively) used the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency as an example, which helped my team and I achieve major first victories with pre-kindergarten for all, paid sick leave, and fair contracts for city employees. This gave us time to continue moving forward on the rest of our plan. At first we didn’t try to do too much. This opened the door to much more.

Unfortunately, we have not always succeeded. On the smaller but morally vital issue of banning the inhumane practice of using horse-drawn carriages to ply the bustling streets of Midtown Manhattan as tourist transportation, we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We engaged in an unnecessarily elaborate attempt at legislative refinement and lost the opportunity for quick and bold action that might have prevailed.

Speed: Successful mayors recognize the power of striking when the iron is hot. This is especially true when it comes to advancing progressive policy: I have often reflected on the fact that my administration could not have achieved Pre-K for All and the start of 3-K for All if we had waited even one more year. Because we jumped on our first good opportunity, more than 500,000 New York children have already benefited from this initiative.