Community Concern Over Mamdani's Transition Team Packed with Radical Activists
NYC Mayor-Elect's 400-Member Advisory Panel Features Police Abolitionists, Radical Socialists, and Alleged Muslim Brotherhood-Connected Organizations, Sparking Concern Among New Yorkers
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani unveiled his 400-member transition committee this week. The committee, organized into 17 advisory panels, features a convergence of Democratic Socialists of America activists, “defund the police” ideologues, and executives from groups allegedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and accused of supporting terrorism.
Political observers across the spectrum have begun documenting the backgrounds of committee members over concern about the ideological direction of city governance under Mamdani’s administration.
Profiles of Appointees
Afaf Nasher - Executive Director, CAIR-NY (Legal Affairs Committee)
Nasher leads the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization that has faced extensive scrutiny for alleged ties to terrorism and the Muslim Brotherhood. Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization in his state, while Senator Tom Cotton has called for federal investigations into the group’s connections to terrorist networks. A 2023 George Washington University report on Hamas networks in the U.S. documented CAIR’s alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
On October 9, 2023, just two days after the October 7 Hamas massacre of over 1,200 Israelis, CAIR-NY under Nasher’s leadership issued a statement condemning New York City’s then-mayor, Eric Adams, for speaking out against pro-Palestine protests, which refused to acknowledge the terrorist atrocities that had just occurred.
Fahd Ahmed - Executive Director, DRUM (Community Organizing Committee)
Ahmed heads Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), a South Asian immigrant rights organization that has been described as instrumental to Mamdani’s electoral victory. DRUM has co-hosted events with The People’s Forum, a Marxist organization currently facing congressional scrutiny for alleged Chinese Communist Party influence. DRUM has joined “Shut It Down” for Palestine protests and maintains ties to Pakistani radical Marxist political movements, according to multiple reports. The organization has been a vocal supporter of pro-Palestine activism and has longstanding involvement in campaigns against Israel.
Tamika Mallory - Co-Founder, Until Freedom (Community Safety Committee)
Mallory gained national prominence as a co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March but was forced to resign in 2019 amid a mounting antisemitism scandal. She repeatedly refused to condemn Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan despite his well-documented antisemitic statements, including calling Jews “termites,” blaming them for the slave trade, and stating, “I’m not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-Termite.”
During a 2019 appearance on “The View,” Mallory refused to use the word “condemn” when pressed about Farrakhan’s hatred of Jews, stating only “I don’t agree with these statements” while defending her relationship with him. She famously posted a photo calling Farrakhan “the GOAT” (greatest of all time) on Instagram. Mallory is also a prominent advocate for defunding the police.
Gustavo Gordillo - Co-Chair, NYC-DSA (Economic Development Committee)
Gordillo serves as co-chair of the New York City chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, the organization that Mamdani is also a member of. He is a vocal supporter of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement against Israel. According to Canary Mission, Gordillo has shown support for terrorism and promoted hatred of America. NYC-DSA has used social media to celebrate Hamas with symbolic imagery, and the organization has allegedly called for Israel’s destruction.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 775, “Condemning the New York City-Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA) antisemitic and anti-Israel rally on October 8, 2023.” Both the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee have extensively documented DSA’s pattern of calling Israel an “apartheid state” while excusing Palestinian terrorism.
Sherif Ahmed - Executive Director, Muslim American Society Staten Island (Community Organizing Committee)
Ahmed leads the Staten Island chapter of the Muslim American Society, whose umbrella organization has strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, as documented by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. In 2004, Shaker Elsayed, who was then MAS’s general secretary, publicly acknowledged that the organization was founded by Muslim Brotherhood members, stating: “Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] members founded MAS.”
In 2019, an MAS chapter in Philadelphia posted a video of children singing in Arabic about “martyrdom,” beheadings, and the violent liberation of Jerusalem, which sparked a police investigation.
Dr. Debbie Almontaser - Executive Director, Emgage (Immigrant Justice Committee)
Almontaser was forced to resign as founding principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in 2007 after refusing to denounce “Intifada NYC” t-shirts sold by an organization with which she was affiliated. When questioned about the shirts, she controversially described “intifada” — a term that references spates of violent Palestinian uprisings that killed over 1,100 Israelis — as merely meaning “shaking off.”
More recently, Almontaser has drawn criticism for conducting workshops on the Gaza war for New York City teachers that Jewish educators complained presented deeply biased, anti-Israel material. She has also appeared to accuse Israel of organ harvesting on X, resembling the age-old antisemitic trope of Jews drinking the blood of Christians and using it to bake matzo.
Tahanie Aboushi - Attorney, Aboushi Law Firm (Legal Affairs Committee)
Aboushi is a Palestinian-American civil rights attorney who has been documented as an active supporter of the BDS movement and anti-Israel activism. Senate Republican leadership produced a research report describing her “radical associations” and documenting that she has worked “behind-the-scenes in pursuit of an anti-Israel agenda.”
Jewish Insider has reported on her history of anti-Israel activism, noting concerns about her efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state. The Washington Examiner reported that she has been supported by donors connected to Hamas-tied groups.
Alex Vitale - Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College (Community Safety Committee)
Vitale is the author of “The End of Policing,” a 2017 book that has become highly influential in the police abolition movement. He advocates for dramatically shrinking police departments. His work has been widely cited by ‘defund the police’ activists, though critics note the book provides little engagement with research showing police presence reduces violent crime.
His work gained prominence during the 2020 protests and has been cited by activists calling to “defund the police.” The New York Post reported on his appointment to Mamdani’s Community Safety Committee, describing him as an “anti-cop.”
Baher Azmy - Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights (Legal Affairs Committee)
Azmy is the legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, an organization that has partnered extensively with Palestine Legal to defend Students for Justice in Palestine chapters accused of antisemitic activity on college campuses.
The National Association of Scholars’ comprehensive report on the BDS movement extensively documents CCR’s role as a key legal defender of anti-Israel campus organizations. CCR has produced reports such as “The Palestine Exception” to Free Speech, arguing that pro-Palestine activists face unique suppression.
Concern Among New Yorkers
The appointments come amid growing national concerns about the influence of radical socialist movements and Islamist organizations in Democratic Party politics, particularly in urban centers. Critics warn that the combination of far-left economic policies and connections to extremist movements could fundamentally reshape New York City’s approach to law enforcement, national security cooperation, and community relations.
City Council members from across the political spectrum have indicated they will closely scrutinize mayoral appointments and policy proposals that emerge from the transition committee recommendations. The mayor-elect is scheduled to take office on January 1, 2026.
“City Council members from across the political spectrum have indicated they will closely scrutinize mayoral appointments and policy proposals that emerge from the transition committee recommendations.”
Wow. They will “closely scrutinize”. I’ll bet Mamdani and his regressive left antisemitic cronies are quaking in their boots.