Mamdani’s transition leader reveals she’s looking for ways he can ‘unilaterally’ use NYC mayoral powers to deliver socialist agenda

All hail Chairman Zohran.

Lefty darling Lina Khan, who’s helping lead Zohran Mamdani’s transition team, is boasting about finding new ways New York City’s mayor-elect can “unilaterally” use his powers to deliver his sweeping socialist agenda.

Khan told Pod Save America host Tommy Vietor this week that her tenure as former President Joe Biden’s monopoly-fighting ex-Federal Trade Commission chair taught her many powers are on the books but remain dormant.

“Coming from the FTC, I’m going to be especially focused on things like, ‘How do we make sure that we have a full accounting of all of the laws and authorities that the mayor can unilaterally deploy?’ ” she said, according to a clip from the still-unreleased full interview.

“So I want to make sure that to the extent that the city has a robust set of laws that the mayor can enforce, that we’re going and understanding what is the full authority.”

Lina Khan, who is serving as Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral transition co-chair, says she’s looking into obscure laws that could give him more unilateral power. Getty Images

The specter of Mamdani flexing largely untapped mayoral authority didn’t surprise some insiders.

“I would hire this person if I were dead set on crafting Soviet style centralized control regime, instituting repressive policies and destroying the economy,” billionaire hedge-fund titan Dan Loeb sniped of Mamdani and Khan on X.

Loeb, who drew Mamdani’s scorn for his high-dollar support for mayoral foe Andrew Cuomo during the election, sarcastically added, “But we should give @ZohranKMamdani a chance.”

Political operative Ken Frydman chimed in, “Mamdani’s economic plan is to tax the rich and control the means of production.

“He’ll strive to regulate private businesses the way Khan did at the FTC. That’s what socialists do.”

How Mamdani would enact his socialist agenda is still an open question. ZUMAPRESS.com

Khan’s search for obscure, unused laws comes amid open questions over how Mamdani could actually fulfill his arguably pie-in-the-sky pledges to tax the rich, provide universal childcare, freeze rents and more.

Mamdani’s plans largely need approval from Albany or the City Council or both — and many pols, Gov. Kathy Hochul included, have cast doubt they’d go whole hog on his democratic socialist dreams.

The revelation that Khan is exploring Mamdani’s unilateral powers signals he could try to bypass less-than-enthusiastic or outright hostile lawmakers as he tries to deliver on his key campaign promise of making the expensive Big Apple more affordable.

Khan is eyeing laws to curb algorithmic price discrimination, surveillance pricing and junk frees that could impact affordability, Bloomberg first reported.

She’s also looking to use the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to check the power of technology companies, similar to her actions atop the FTC, according to the report.

Mamdani, for his part, has stressed he’ll try to represent all New Yorkers. He has also remained largely silent on how he’ll use mayoral powers to build new housing.

The mayor-elect’s transition team and early City Hall picks largely consist of veteran public servants from lefty former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, hinting Mamdani looking to tap their institutional knowledge.

Khan has received praise from many conservatives — including President Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon — for her work fighting against big tech’s consolidation of power.