Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is poised to appoint Julia Kerson, an infrastructure adviser to Governor Hochul, as his chief operations deputy at City Hall, according to information obtained by the Daily News.
Furthermore, Mamdani is anticipated to reveal his choice for the Department of Transportation commissioner on Wednesday. Insiders suggest that Mike Flynn, a seasoned transit specialist and former agency employee, is a strong contender for the position.
The announcements are expected to be made during a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Manhattan. During this event, Mamdani is also likely to introduce Kamar Samuels as his selection for schools chancellor.
Representatives for Mamdani were unavailable for immediate comment. Kerson could not be reached for remarks, and Flynn, who has participated in Mamdani’s transition team on the transportation committee, did not respond to messages.
These appointments come as Mamdani prepares to take office as the city’s 112th mayor at the stroke of midnight on Wednesday.
The roles of schools chancellor, operations deputy mayor, and Department of Transportation commissioner are among the most prominent appointments in city governance, adding a layer of suspense to Mamdani’s last-minute decisions.
The DOT and deputy mayor for operations appointments are also uniquely important for Mamdani, who promised during the mayoral campaign to make the city’s public buses fast and free.
While the buses themselves are controlled by the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Department of Transportation — which is overseen by the deputy mayor for operations — is responsible for the city’s streets, including the construction of busways meant to make public transit faster.
Busway construction has fallen short of mandated thresholds under outgoing Mayor Adams’ administration, and Mamdani vowed on the campaign trail to turn the tide on that trend.
In Kerson and Flynn, Mamdani is signaling he will lean on veteran infrastructure and transit hands to help him implement his agenda.
Kerson has served as the deputy director of infrastructure under Hochul since April 2024. Prior to Hochul’s administration, she worked at the MTA in a senior role and, before that, served in a variety of posts in the office of the deputy mayor for operations in the de Blasio administration.
Flynn is also a veteran of the agency he could now be in line to lead, having worked as the Department of Transportation in a variety of capacities, mostly under ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, leaving the agency in June 2014 as its director of capital planning. Since then, he has been working in various senior roles at TYLin, a global engineering and infrastructure advisory firm that works with both public and private sector players.
