New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has named Elle Bisgaard-Church, his longtime adviser and the chief architect of his controversial public safety plan, as his incoming chief adviser at City Hall.
According to Fox News, Bisgaard-Church, a California native and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, previously served as Mamdani’s top aide during both his mayoral campaign and his tenure in the state assembly.
She is credited with crafting one of the mayor-elect’s most debated initiatives — a $1.1 billion plan to replace police officers with social workers and mental health professionals in responding to non-violent 911 calls.
The Department of Community Safety proposal, championed by Bisgaard-Church, aims to shift responses for mental health crises and other non-life-threatening incidents away from traditional law enforcement, particularly in subway stations. According to CBS News, she has been described by campaign staff as the “chief architect” of the plan.
When developing the proposal, Bisgaard-Church consulted mental health experts, public safety officials from other cities, and even former NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison.
Her new appointment is expected to draw scrutiny from critics of Mamdani’s approach to public safety. The mayor-elect has previously faced backlash for past anti-police remarks, some of which he later walked back publicly.
During the campaign, Bisgaard-Church also helped coordinate weekly meetings between Mamdani’s team and the New York City chapter of the DSA, which played a key role in mobilizing support for his candidacy.
A graduate of Swarthmore College and Columbia University, Bisgaard-Church said her political drive stems from witnessing social inequality firsthand.
“I still feel daily, deeply ashamed to live in a place where we allow people to sleep on concrete at night … and I fundamentally believe it doesn’t have to be that way,” she told City & State in a recent interview. “It represents (a) political choice. The place where I have seen that shared sense of rage at such a moral failure has been in a handful of movement organizations, including New York City DSA.”
Her involvement with the DSA stretches back several years, including helping form its legislative analysis team and authoring internal guidance on how elected officials should engage with the organization.
Reflecting on her new role, Bisgaard-Church said it was “the honor of a lifetime” to lead Mamdani’s campaign and now to help implement his progressive agenda at City Hall. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and deliver on our affordability agenda while demonstrating what a well-run City Hall can do for everyday New Yorkers,” she said.
