Mamdani Picks Mike Flynn for DOT Commissioner — And Put Him Center Stage at his Swearing In

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has hired Mike Flynn, a longtime presence in New York City transportation planning, as commissioner of the Department of Transportation, the Mamdani transition team confirmed to Streetsblog.

The new mayor made the announcement shortly after being sworn in at midnight on Thursday, bringing Flynn to the microphone at his own inauguration, a symbol of how important Mamdani places the livable streets agenda.

“It is an honor to have Mike here,” the mayor said, “as we embark on an administration that will take seriously the responsibility and the opportunity we have to make this streetscape and the public transit of the city we call home the envy of the world.

“It will require someone who’s experienced, who is fluent in the landscape as it is, and who is ambitious and imaginative towards the landscape as it could be,” he added. “And I can think of no better person than a man alongside me, and I’m so proud to have him joining our administration as the next head of DOT.”

The video cut out on the mayor’s official YouTube page, but the AP captured the viral moment:

Flynn, 46, worked for DOT from 2005 to 2014 on pedestrian and bicycle programs and planning, rising to director of “capital planning and project initiation,” according to his LinkedIn page. He spent the last decade at TYLin and Sam Schwartz Consulting, the planning and engineering firm founded by “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz that merged into TYLin in 2021.

Schwartz, a former city Traffic Commissioner, told Streetsblog that he expects Flynn and Mamdani will be “in sync when it comes to street design and bus lanes,” and has worked on both.

And Janette Sadik-Khan, a former DOT commissioner under Mayor Mike Bloomberg and a former boss of Flynn, offered her insight in a statement provided by the Mamdani transition team.

“Mike knows the agency, the city and its streets from the inside out,” Sadik-Khan said. “Mike will be a strong voice for Mayor Mamdani and for all New Yorkers in making transportation work for them, and for turning proposals into projects in the ground that will make the city’s streets safer, more accessible and affordable.”

In his speech, Flynn talked of his childhood “endlessly fascinated by the city’s subways, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure” and said his new boss “fundamentally understand the role that transportation plays in the day to day lives of New Yorkers.”

The new commissioner’s grandfather worked for the MTA as a signal operator on the 7 train, and his father had stints as a bike delivery worker and cab driver, Flynn wrote in an op-ed for for Crain’s New York in August titled, “Why Transportation Should be an Issue in Mayoral Election.”

In the piece, Flynn framed reducing car dependence as crucial to achieving “affordability,” which was Mamdani’s campaign mantra. Without mentioning any candidates, Flynn advised the next mayor not to “privilege parochial concerns, or a general fear of change, over important policy goals.”

“Making it easier to own fewer cars can have a big impact, with New York City car owners typically spending $8,000 more per year on transportation than those solely using transit,” he wrote.

Flynn also called free buses — another crucial wall in the foundation of Mamdani’s campaign — “certainly one big and intriguing idea,” but warned that it would all be for naught without faster buses.

“The full benefits can only be realized with an enhanced citywide network of bus-priority routes that gets buses moving faster and provides a world-class, dignified experience for bus riders (who are disproportionately lower-income and older),” he wrote. The op-ed further called to integrate NYC Ferry and Citi Bike into OMNY and to enact harsher penalties for recidivist reckless drivers.

Flynn’s portfolio at Sam Schwartz included the popular and groundbreaking shared streets in the Meatpacking District as well as the city’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway reconstruction project. Mayor Adams committed to rebuilding the BQE’s deteriorating triple-cantilever segment, but made little progress towards that goal.

His title at TYLin was City Solutions Sector Manager in New York. The company called him “a national expert on urban mobility” who was involved in “innovative planning, policy, design, and strategy projects to help cities and towns achieve economic, environmental, and equity goals through an effective transportation system and human-centered public realm.”

Even before Flynn’s selection was revealed to Streetsblog, his boss’s identity was announced on Wednesday: he’ll report to Julia Kerson, the incoming Deputy Mayor of Operations. Kerson currently serves as Deputy Director of Infrastructure in Gov. Hochul’s office, and previously worked for the MTA, Gateway Tunnel, Port Authority and former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Covid response team.

Mamdani praised Kerson’s broad resume on Wednesday at a press conference to announce several new City Hall hires.

“Her work has been felt across our state and throughout our city in ways big and small,” the new mayor said.

Kerson’s background in capital project management and experience at several city and state agencies should serve Mayor Mamdani well, her former colleagues said.

“She’s hardcore no bullshit project delivery. Focused. Cuts to the chase, which is a rare and valuable attribute in city government,” one person who’s worked with Kerson told Streetsblog.

Kerson’s hire — and Flynn’s status as the “favorite” for DOT boss — were first reported by Chris Sommerfeldt of the Daily News.

John Surico, a transportation journalist and an organizer of the 31st Avenue Open Street in Astoria, praised Mamdani’s choice of Kerson.

“She oversees the sort of system-wide infrastructure planning that the DMO position calls for,” Surico posted on X. “She definitely has the CV for this, and someone who really gets the public realm vision that the moment calls for.”

This story was updated after confirmation from the Mamdani transition team and again after the inauguration.