Mayor Eric Adams met with his replacement, far-left pol Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday afternoon —  the first sit-down between the two rivals as New York City prepares for a change in leadership.
Adams welcomed the mayor-elect Mamdani — along with his Chief of Staff Elle Bisgaard Church and First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan — at Gracie Mansion for about an hour to discuss the transition.
“It went well,” Mamdani told reporters following the sit-down. “I appreciated the conversation that I had with Mayor Adams and his team.
“We focused on how to make this as smooth as possible of a transition and how to continue to serve New Yorkers.”
Mamdani called the meeting “typical” during a transition.
Adams first revealed the sitdown when he told reporters Tuesday morning that he was scheduled to sit down with the mayor-elect later in the day to hand over his transitional document to create a seamless shift in power.
“I am meeting the mayor-elect today at noon, and we are going to turn over a document of our transition,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference just before the meeting.
Adams said he planned to make the case to the new Big Apple leader about what initiatives have worked over the last few years to keep them alive.
“What I must do is show what I have accomplished,” Adams said.
Mamdani said after the sit-down that he planned to continue at least some Adams key programs, such as containerization and furthering the massive rezoning push.
“I’ve obviously made my critiques clear,” Mamdani told reporters outside Gracie Mansion. “I also think that there are good things that this administration has done.
“I think these are the two examples on City of Yes and containerization,” he said, adding, “I also have appreciated the work that Commissioner [Jessica] Tish has done in reducing crime across the five boroughs.
“And that’s a critical part of why I decided to retain her.”
