They can\u2019t staff an administration \u2014 but they sure can plan a soir\u00e9e!<\/p>\n
Zohran Mamdani\u2019s self-congratulatory mayoral inauguration block party<\/a> appears to be the most planning his transition team has done, as they\u2019re still scrambling to fill major City Hall spots with just days to go.<\/p>\n The mayor-elect\u2019s well-funded transition \u2014 which had $1.8 million on hand as December dawned \u2014 will pay for the massive \u201cInauguration of a New Era\u201d expected to draw up to 50,000 New Yorkers on Jan. 1, The Post exclusively learned.<\/p>\n But Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic political consultant, argued the spectacle will be more for political \u201cshow\u201d \u2014 and more costly \u2014 than advertised. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is the way for the people who love him to send him off to City Hall to see what he can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is that having it in the street is a way of telling everybody, \u2018He\u2019s the people\u2019s mayor\u2019 and not a fancy guy. When in fact, it\u2019s a very fancy event \u2014 taking over the streets, costing the city an awful lot of money to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s well-funded transition will pay for his inauguration block party. Dennis A. Clark<\/p>\n Sen. Bernie Sanders will swear in Mamdani at the party.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s team dodged questions about how much the shindig will ultimately cost, other than that the transition will pick up the tab.<\/p>\n A source involved with planning the event refused to reveal how many cops will be deployed, but said Mamdani\u2019s transition team will hire and pay for additional private security to reduce the burden on the NYPD \u2014 and presumably drive down the cost to taxpayers.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s inauguration block party will allow for thousands of New Yorkers who are excited for a new era to celebrate the bold vision for the city we are ready to lead,\u201d transition spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement.<\/p>\n Insiders said they expect the shindig to be in line with the price tag of prior inaugurations. Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams had raised $1.9 million for his 2022 inauguration that was supposed to be held at Brooklyn\u2019s King Theater. The Adams transition team had to return $800,000<\/a> to donors after COVID concerns delayed the party, and he didn\u2019t spend the funds within the required timeframe.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s transition has drawn nearly 30,000 donors, of whom more than half hailed from outside New York, according to campaign finance records.<\/p>\n Those out-of-state donors include a pair of gamer YouTubers with millions of followers each, Ludwig Ahgren and Ethan Nestor, records show.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s inauguration block party will close part of the Canyon of Heroes. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n Private security will be hired to ease the burden on the NYPD during the inauguration party, sources said. AP<\/p>\n The party planning for the inauguration \u2014 including closing off streets near City Hall and along the Canyon of Heroes, and tapping socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to swear in Mamdani \u2014 comes as the transition team drags its feet on revealing high-level hires for actual governance.<\/p>\n Mamdani did pick former EMS chief Lillian Bonsignore on Tuesday to head the FDNY, but who\u2019ll fill other key roles \u2014 such as the schools chancellor \u2014 remain question marks.<\/p>\n And the transition team has also been dogged by criticism of its vetting process and antisemitism accusations<\/a> against an uncomfortable number of appointees.<\/p>\n