Mamdani kills a controversial commission created by Eric Adams — and plans to start one of his own

NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani has disbanded a hostile city commission created by his predecessor that, like a zombie, lived on into the New York City mayor’s tenure. In its place, Mamdani is creating a new panel Thursday that will be tasked with proposing government efficiency initiatives to voters this fall in the form of ballot referendum questions.

In vanquishing a commission hastily created by former Mayor Eric Adams, Mamdani has removed one of the final bureaucratic traps</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/27/how-mamdani-is-dealing-with-a-trap-left-by-eric-adams-00746795","_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>final bureaucratic traps laid by a one-term mayor. In launching the new Charter Revision Commission in its place, the current mayor seeks to further cast himself as a democratic socialist concerned with the minutiae of daily governance.

Mamdani plans to dub his new entity the Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE — a nod to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. It will be chaired by one of the mayor’s most prominent outside advisers, Patrick Gaspard, and staffed with 14 other commissioners focused on finding bureaucratic snags that slow infrastructure projects and service delivery.

“The Commission on Government Efficiency will take a hard look at how City government functions and identify the reforms we need to deliver faster, smarter and more effectively for working people,” Mamdani told POLITICO in a statement before his office filed paperwork to create the new panel. “Restoring faith in government starts with proving government can actually deliver.”

Though the Adams commission members have threatened to sue over any attempts to stop their work, Mamdani’s announcement appears to end, for the moment at least, a legal and political saga that began in the final hours of his predecessor’s term.

On Dec. 31, just as Adams was about to become the first one-term mayor since David Dinkins, he launched a Charter Revision Commission and tasked it with advancing referendum questions for November’s ballot to create an open primary system in local elections. The commission was widely seen as an effort by Adams to stymie his successor, as an open primary system could complicate Mamdani’s path to reelection in 2029.

Since then, the commission, which is made up of Adams’ political allies and staffers, has barreled ahead with its work. Last week, it announced it would also explore advancing ballot questions related to fighting antisemitism and prohibiting local elected officials from giving themselves raises — the former of which would tap into a political vulnerability</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook-pm/2026/05/22/the-zelig-like-dnc-autopsy-author-00934377#:~:text=The%20rogue%20body,many%20Jewish%20residents.","_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>former of which would tap into a political vulnerability for Mamdani.

And on Wednesday night, it officially approved a ballot question on open primaries, fulfilling its primary directive.

Given that Adams created the commission lawfully, it has proven difficult for Mamdani to kill it outright, allowing the former mayor to continue to haunt city government from beyond his political grave.

But last week, state lawmakers in Albany — at Mamdani’s request — granted him a new power</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/05/new-york-budget-expected-to-help-mamdani-kill-political-headache-left-by-predecessor-00930054","_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>granted him a new power: Until June 1, he can accept or reject the commission’s creation.

Before the Adams commission met Wednesday evening — and with less than a week until the deadline — Mamdani penned a notice officially rescinding the commission.

The mayor’s replacement committee will draw appointees from several branches of the city’s political ecosystem.

Commissioners include several Bill de Blasio alums including Emma Wolfe, the former mayor’s closest aide; Marco Carrión, who ran de Blasio’s community outreach division; and Kapil Longani, who served as de Blasio’s chief counsel. Mamdani has also tapped Marc Shaw, who served in several top roles under former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.

From the business community, the mayor snagged Kathy Wylde, former head of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit that represents some of the city’s biggest corporations. Labor honcho Henry Garrido, head of DC37, will also serve on the commission, as will former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger.

“City agencies are charged with solving some of the most complex challenges facing New Yorkers, and yet too often they are hamstrung by outdated constraints and unnecessary requirements,” said Ann Cheng, an aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul who the mayor’s office has nominated as the commission’s executive director.

The Mamdani commission plans to hold 10 hearings across the city in coming months to solicit public feedback before moving to advance ballot questions for November’s elections. According to a fact-sheet shared with POLITICO, the commission will focus on studying the City Charter to come up with ways for “removing outdated bureaucratic barriers that slow infrastructure projects and delay services; equipping City agencies with the authority, enforcement tools, and flexibility needed to deliver programs effectively; and modernizing government to improve efficiency, savings, reserves and budgetary practices.”

The commission may also explore additional reforms that emerge during public testimony, Mamdani’s office said.

While Mamdani’s announcement effectively serves as a death knell for Adams’ Frankensteinish commission, New Yorkers may not have heard the last gasp from that panel.

On Wednesday night, the Adams commission convened in a Bronx auditorium to hear testimony from five people in favor of open primaries. And the current mayor loomed large.

Several people who testified cited the significant number of New York voters unaffiliated with a political party — and thus shut out of the primary system — and the primary system’s propensity to elect candidates on the political extremes — especially those hailing from the Democratic Socialists of America.

The executive director of the Queens Republican Party was the lone dissenting voice, and testified that open primaries would kill the chances of electing future GOP candidates.

Randy Mastro, Adams’ former first deputy mayor and a prominent lawyer, serves as the commission’s pro bono counsel and was the architect behind its creation.

On Wednesday evening, Mastro was undeterred by the state legislation, Mamdani’s move to nix the Adams panel and a City & State report</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/05/its-time-zohrans-charter-revision-commission/413803/","_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-6ee1-de27-a59e-fffb15420007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a City & State report that the mayor would be starting a new mayoral commission.

“This commission is going to continue to do its work, and now it’s put open primaries and nonpartisan elections on the ballot,” he said. “There’s been no alteration of its status, and whatever attempts to alter its status would certainly raise legal issues that would need to be explored.”

The proposed ballot questions explored by the Adams commission included one that, if approved by voters, would create an open primary system in local elections, another that would restrict city elected officials from raising their own salaries and a third that would create new municipal initiatives to “address antisemitism, hate crimes and protester interference with houses of worship.”

Each of those proposals carry distinct political overtones for Mamdani, adding to the impression that Adams created the commission to stymie his successor. For instance, democratic socialists like Mamdani would likely have a harder time being elected under an open primary system because the voter pool would be expanded to include more moderate constituents, and critics continue to accuse the mayor of not doing enough to combat antisemitism, a charge he denies.

The Adams commission recently scheduled four hearings over the coming month to allow for public testimony on its proposals. Since Mamdani’s administration has refused to provide funding for the commission, Mastro said last Tuesday the panel is being provided free space for the hearings from community organizations.

However, one of those organizations, Glow Community Center in Queens, told POLITICO late last week that it had not committed any space for a commission hearing.

“We’ve recently received some inquiries regarding potential use of our space and inquired about the standard rate, but at this point, I’m not aware of any booking or arrangement that has been formally confirmed,” an unidentified representative for Glow wrote in an email late Thursday, contradicting Mastro’s claim that a hearing had been locked in at that space for June 23.

State Attorney General Letitia James, a Mamdani ally, hailed the mayor for creating a new commission to replace the undead Adams panel.

“The mayor knows New Yorkers deserve an efficient government that quickly delivers childcare, housing, and public infrastructure — and that means tackling the red tape and outdated barriers in our city charter that block progress,” James said. “COGE is a smart, ambitious approach to modernize our government and deliver excellence to all New Yorkers.”

المصدر: Politico