{"id":481233,"date":"2025-12-31T00:53:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/481233\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:53:10","slug":"zohran-mamdani-names-another-bill-de-blasio-admin-alum-to-nycs-top-legal-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/481233\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani names another Bill de Blasio admin alum to NYC’s top legal job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani<\/a> named a pair of controversial lawyers to high-profile jobs in his administration Tuesday \u2013 including an ex-de Blasio aide who calls himself a \u201csocial justice attorney\u201d and another who represented an al Qaeda terrorist. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The democratic socialist announced he would appoint crusading activist attorney Steven Banks<\/a> \u2014\u00a0just the latest de Blasio administration\u00a0retread\u2013\u00a0to head the city\u2019s Law Department as corporation counsel and ex-Biden policy adviser Ramzi Kassem<\/a> to serve as City Hall\u2019s chief counsel.<\/p>\n

While Mamdani lauded the two picks as personnel that understands the law and will \u201cemploy it as a critical tool in the fight for working people,\u201d critics sounded the alarm over the pick\u2019s track records.<\/p>\n

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has tapped Steven Banks to head up the city\u2019s Law Department. Christopher Sadowski<\/p>\n

Banks comes with a lengthy resume, but Big Apple insiders have raised concerns about him being too much of an activist.<\/p>\n

Banks, who previously served as former Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s homeless services director, notably battled the Eric Adams<\/a> administration in court when Adams tried to roll back portions of the \u201cright to shelter\u201d rules to get a handle on the spiraling migrant crisis.<\/p>\n

Banks was part of an effort earlier in his career as a member of the Legal Aid Society as it pushed to\u00a0create and expand the city\u2019s contentious shelter law that guarantees a bed to anyone without a home.\u00a0 He teamed up with the nonprofit again in a 2024 showdown with Adams.<\/p>\n

Outgoing Queens Councilman Robert Holden<\/a>, a moderate Democrat, predicted Banks\u2019 tenure as corporation counsel \u201cwould be a disaster, but not a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t just have a hand in these policies, he helped design them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe architects of the failed de Blasio era are back for more certain failures,\u201d Holden added.<\/p>\n

While serving as de Blasio\u2019s Department of Social Services commissioner, he faced heat for financial scandals and awful conditions at a crucial not-for-profit homeless shelter that the agency worked with.<\/p>\n

Mamdani is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 1, 2026, as NYC\u2019s next mayor. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

An audit from then-city\u00a0Comptroller Scott Stringer found bloated costs and misspending while shelter residents were subjected to horrid conditions under Banks.<\/p>\n

Banks, who labels himself a \u201cpublic interest social justice attorney\u201d on his LinkedIn page<\/a> and has 40 years of legal experience, would need the majority of the City Council to approve his appointment.<\/p>\n

The Law Department represents city agencies, the mayor and other elected officials in litigation. It also handles juvenile delinquency proceedings brought in Family Court and code enforcement proceedings brought in Criminal Court.<\/p>\n

Banks joins a slew of other de Blasio alums\u00a0making their return to city government.<\/p>\n

Other notable appointments include incoming first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan<\/a>, Office of Budget Management director Sherif Soliman<\/a> and Intergovernmental Affairs head Jahmila Edwards<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani will officially be sworn in at the Old City Hall subway station. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kassem, who was a senior policy advisor under former President Joe Biden<\/a>, will serve as chief counsel, which is widely seen as the most important advisory role in the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

The City University of New York\u00a0law professor\u2019s\u00a0appointment raised eyebrows because of some of his past clients.<\/p>\n

Kassem was part of the legal team that defended Columbia University anti-Israel leader Mahmoud Khalil<\/a>, a major player in the rowdy protest encampments last school year. <\/p>\n

The team advocated for the\u00a0rabblerouser when the Trump administration tried to deport him this year.<\/p>\n

He also defended terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi, an al Qaeda member convicted in 2017 of the bombing of a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen in 2002.<\/p>\n

The private swearing-in will be led by Attorney General Letitia James at midnight, while he will be publicly sworn in on the steps of City Hall at 1 p.m. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n

Kassem\u2019s position doesn\u2019t require approval from the City Council.<\/p>\n

State Assemblyman Kalman Yeger<\/a>, a Brooklyn Democrat, slammed Kassem\u2019s appointment, claiming Mamdani is choosing to \u201ctelegraph to America Haters that they have a place in his City Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a city as great as New York, there are any number of brilliant legal minds willing and able to serve who have not previously defended terrorists as an Al Qaeda lawyer,\u201d the former councilman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor-elect probably realized he couldn\u2019t nominate him as Corporation Counsel, as that is subject to City Council confirmation, and even the City Council doesn\u2019t hate America that much,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But Mamdani showered praise on both picks when he rolled out the latest appointments.<\/p>\n

Banks, the latest appointment by Mamdani has raised concerns for being too much of an activist. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rule-of-law is the bedrock of good governance, effective leadership, and a city that works for working people,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Steve Banks and Ramzi Kassem as my Corporations and Chief Counsel, our City will not only operate in accordance with the law, but will understand and employ it as a critical tool in the fight for working people and to protect their safety and fundamental freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Also announced as an addition to the administration Tuesday was Elmhurst Hospital CEO Helen Arteaga, who will\u00a0be Mamdani\u2019s deputy mayor for health and human services.<\/p>\n

Arteaga previously worked as an assistant vice president at Urban Health Plan Inc. for 15 years before joining Elmhurst in 2021.<\/p>\n

Mamdani is set to be sworn in<\/a> Jan. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani named a pair of controversial lawyers to high-profile jobs in his administration Tuesday \u2013 including…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":481234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,21481,30091,4630,5705,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-481233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bill-de-blasio","10":"tag-lawyers","11":"tag-legal","12":"tag-mayors","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115811451181980528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}