Can Mamdani and Khan Prove the Public Still Has Power?
Behind the scenes, they mapped forgotten statutes and buried authority. If it holds, New York could become a model for rapid, people-first governance.
While most of the media spotlight has focused on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s age, politics, or progressive endorsements, a more radical and promising shift is happening just beneath the surface, and at its center is Lina Khan.
Khan, the former Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, helped Mandami design a legally grounded, ethically aligned, immediately deployable system of power designed to serve the public directly as soon as possible!
As FTC Chair, Khan sued Amazon for monopolistic practices, blocked major mergers, and led the charge against junk fees, hidden clauses, and deceptive digital design. Her guiding philosophy: the laws we already have in place could work if we bother to enforce them. Her agenda: Lower costs, protect workers, and hold corporate actors accountable; quickly, legally, and visibly.
As lead of Mandami’s transition team, Khan and a small, focused team combed through decades of city law looking for dormant executive authority, unused statutes, outdated regulations, and forgotten protections that could help Mandami govern without waiting on Albany or Washington.
While most political transitions prioritize optics and introductions, Khan’s team went underground, assembling a roadmap of immediate legal actions that could cut through the usual gridlock. Early reports point to several key areas of impact:
Enforcing the broker fee ban, saving renters thousands of dollars upfront.
Reviving a 1969 price-gouging statute to target predatory pricing in stadiums, hospitals, and other captive markets.
Pursuing utility cost transparency and new pricing rules.
Cracking down on delivery app violations of worker protection laws.
It was encouraging to see evidence of this agenda pop up on my Instagram as one of Mandami’s first posts as Mayor.
Equally important, Khan helped place key personnel in influential roles, such as former FTC colleague Sam Levine at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and labor advocate Julie Su as Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice. This isn’t just staffing, it’s system design anchored in a belief that rules should not just exist, but matter.
Khan’s blueprint gives Mamdani a way to act fast, legally, and in alignment with public need. Her transition work positions him to:
Deliver early wins on affordability and enforcement
Avoid legislative deadlock by using long-standing executive tools
Prove that progressive governance can be not only principled, but effective
Mamdani is now the symbolic standard-bearer for the American left in office. His success or failure will echo far beyond the five boroughs. But this isn’t just about political legacy. For everyday New Yorkers, especially renters, workers, and those living paycheck to paycheck, Khan’s work could translate to real, tangible relief: fewer surprise fees, clearer protections, and a city government finally using its own powers on behalf of its people.
Instead of pushing Mamdani to promise what he couldn’t deliver, Lina Khan helped him see what the city could do immediately, using the authority it already has.; using the law isn’t radical. Enforcing it for the public is. And because of Lina Khan, New York has a real chance to prove that power can work when it’s actually used.