As Mayor-elect Mamdani's team takes shape, transition says about 50,000 people applied for City Hall jobs
As New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's team is taking shape, tens of thousands of people have applied for jobs in the new administration, a top official with the transition says.
Maria Torres-Springer, the co-chair of Mamdani's transition team and Mayor Eric Adams' former first deputy mayor, said they've received close to 50,000 resumes since opening applications.
Half of the resumes came within the first 24 hours, a surprise, but also an early positive sign for the mayor-elect, Torres-Springer said Sunday on CBS News New York's "The Point with Marcia Kramer."
"I've always marveled at how New Yorkers step up," Torres-Springer said. "I think what we have in the mayor-elect is someone who is inviting that type of energy, inviting new ideas and is focused on the very hard work of translating all of that to the types of programs that deliver for New Yorkers who may have been disillusioned by the state of politics in our city."
Torres-Springer resigned from the Adams administration this year when the Justice Department moved to drop corruption charges against the outgoing mayor. She said the widespread interest in working for the next mayor bodes well for the city's future.
"That new energy will be critical in the work of government. The scale and pace of the bureaucracy in the city of New York, it's almost unimaginable if you think about what happens on a day-to-day-basis," she said. "You have to supply a billion gallons of water, or maintain 30,000 acres of parkland, you have to pick up 12,000 tons of trash. It is a gargantuan undertaking."
Torres-Springer said she had a "renewed sense of hope" following Mamdani's election and was humbled to join his transition team.
"The mayor-elect is laser focused on public excellence, which means getting right the nuts and bolts of government, but also creating the type of environment, the type of culture where more New Yorkers can really feel that the politics of City Hall are working for them," she said.
Mamdani said Sunday on social media his transition has reached its funding goal of $1 million.
Last week, Mamdani announced his first appointments: First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, a veteran government official who was budget director in the de Blasio administration, and his chief of staff Elle Bisgaard-Church, who holds the same role on Mamdani's staff in the state assembly.
"There is a very clear mandate for us. A very clear remit that we identify individuals who will be extraordinary managers, but who also have a real belief in government's capacity to do really hard things," Torres-Springer said.
The co-chair believes Fuleihan's experience working with Albany could be the key to passing Mamdani's agenda.
Click here to watch the full interview with Torres-Springer.