Overview:
As mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to be sworn in, several Haitian American leaders have been tapped to serve on his transition committees. The story highlights the roles of figures such as Stephanie Delia of Little Haiti BK, Kassandra Frederique of the Drug Policy Alliance and others, while examining what their inclusion means for Haitian New Yorkers amid looming immigration concerns, including the potential end of Temporary Protected Status.
Around late November, Stephanie Delia, executive director of Little Haiti BK, learned she had been recommended to then-Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team to sit on the Committee for Immigrant Justice. Although unsure of how she landed the position, Delia, an immigration lawyer, thought it was “brilliant” to bring in a range of voices from across the immigrant community “to bridge the gap between election and first day.”
By the eve of Inauguration Day, Delia was close to submitting a memo spotlighting her concern for Temporary Protective Status (TPS) recipients. She plans to include information helping immigrant parents whose protected status will expire next month to prepare for reunification with their children preemptively.
“These issues will affect our community within 30 days of your taking office,” she said, reading from her draft report. “So, please, as you’re developing policy, ensure that this doesn’t fall through the gap.”
Mamdani was officially sworn in as Mayor in an intimate midnight ceremony Jan.1 — ahead of his events later in the day.
Patient fans wait on Church Street in subzero weather for a chance to attend the 2026 Inauguration Block Party. Photo by Allison Hunter for The Haitian Times.
Patient fans wait on Church Street in subzero weather for a chance to attend the 2026 Inauguration Block Party. Photo by Allison Hunter for The Haitian Times.
The line for the Inauguration Block Party ended at Chambers Street and Broadway, nine blocks from the entrance at Liberty Street. Traffic and pedestrians were blocked from bordering streets. Photo by Allison Hunter for the Haitian Times.
A public ceremony at City Hall began at 1pm, Bernie Sanders officially swearing in Zoran Mamdani, preceded by the swearing in of Jumaane Williams as Public Advocate and Mark Levine as City Comptroller. The general public was invited to a “2026 NYC Inauguration Block Party” taking place on Broadway. But, by 12:30 pm, the line to enter the party stretched nine blocks, all the way to Chambers Street.
The long line for the Inauguration Block Party included button vendors and those displaying their own in support of Mayor Mamdani. Photos by Allison Hunter for the Haitian Times.
The long line for the Inauguration Block Party included button vendors and those displaying their own in support of Mayor Mamdani. Photos by Allison Hunter for the Haitian Times.
A passerby said, “Everyone’s so quiet.” That might have been from the cold—temperatures dipped into the low 20s. One group of friends formed a human chain as they pushed through a narrow gap between jackets and coats heading to the front of the line where many waited over an hour to get in.
In the lead-up to that assumption of power, his team recruited over 400 members filling 17 committees tasked with advising on hiring and policy issues.
In keeping with the communication style that helped win him the election, the media-savvy Mamdani built a transition site listing the people working with him to create his administration. Six New Yorkers known to be of Haitian or of Haitian descent are on that list:
- Stephanie Delia, a former practicing immigration attorney before leading the beleaguered Little Haiti BK, for the Committee on Immigrant Justice
- Jocelyn McCalla, of the Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy, for the Committee on Immigrant Justice
- Anthonine Pierre, formerly of the Brooklyn Movement Center, who announced on Dec. 31 that she’s stepping down from the Committee on Community Organizing.
- Jacques Léandre, a partner at the LMV Law Group, for the Committee on Legal Affairs
- Sienna Fontaine of Make the Road, for the Committee on Social Services
- Kassandra Frederique, of the Drug Policy Alliance, for the Committee on Community Safety.
Other Haitian Americans without official roles on the transition team include Patrick Gaspard, the former ambassador to South Africa under Obama and distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Prior to that, he was an aide to David Dinkins on the late mayor’s 1989 campaign and an advisor to Bill de Blasio in 2013. The City Hall Free for All podcast said Gaspard has been advising Mamdani throughout his campaign.
Patrick Gaspard
Mamdani, “doing the right thing” to transition
Mamdani’s addition of Haitians to his teams follows several appearances during the mayoral campaign and an unforgettable appearance in early summer, while many elected Haitian American officials were still backing Andrew Cuomo.
In June, Mamdani surprised a packed Barclay’s Center BAYO fans when he took the mic from frontrunner Michael Brun.
“As the next mayor of this city, I will be proud to stand up for Haitian New Yorkers every single day,” he said at the time.
“We are going to fight to get Haiti off the travel ban,” he promised. “We are going to fight Donald Trump when he tries to end TPS. And we’re going to stand up for Haiti because you taught the world about freedom.”
Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the 42nd District representative and Brooklyn Democratic Party leader, said Mamdani is starting on a good footing. She is also one of Mamdani’s 100 Elected Officials cohort of allies — as are Haitian American City Council members Rita Joseph, Farah N. Louis and Mercedes Narcisse.
“Mamdani is doing the right thing,” she said. “He understands the significance of the Haitian Americans in particular because he knows that we have a significant number of elected officials in the State Assembly as well as in the city council.
“He has seen with his own two eyes the masses,” Bichotte Hermelyn added.
Bichotte Hermelyn also remarked on other prominent Haitian leaders in Mamdani’s orbit.
Protecting Haitians from deportations still the key question
Bichotte Hermelyn also spoke approvingly of the new administration’s plans to protect immigrants, including Haitians concerned about the looming Feb 3 TPS deadline.
Twilight on Flatbush Ave. and Farragut Rd. in Brooklyn’s Little Haiti neighborhood on Monday, December 29, 2025. Photo by Allison Hunter for The Haitian Times.
When asked whether she thinks the city’s sanctuary status is safe under Mamdani’s leadership, she replied, “Yes, 100 percent.”
And what of those fearful of deportation? How could she help them? Bichotte Hermelyn responded that they have a system in place.
“We [are] already doing, we have a response, rapid response,” referring to the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative under the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. It is not clear, however, if the Adams-era initiative will remain in place or be changed, given federal authorities’ ramped-up mass deportation efforts.
A section of Flatbush Ave. at Beverly Rd. in Brooklyn on Monday, December 29, 2025. Photo by Allison Hunter for The Haitian Times.
Porez Luxama, executive director of Life of Hope, a Haitian community center in Brooklyn, said he believes in Mamdani’s vision but is waiting to see who he will appoint to top city government roles. He’s particularly interested in seeing plans to support Haitian immigrants affected by the end of Temporary Protected Status on Feb. 3.
“What is the plan for those families?” Luxama asked of the families who remain after the protected status deadline. He’s been trying to find out if the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs has a plan, but he said the holidays have left many workers out on vacation and phones unanswered.
Still, he’s “very very optimistic,” Luxama would like to see a new government position focused explicitly on the Haitian diaspora.
He pointed out that figures like Jacques Jiha or Patrick Gaspard, who “are great at what they do,” are not working at a city job or a transition committee specifically on a Haitian agenda. Jiha, Luxama said, was “one of the best the city had ever seen,” managing the city’s budget, but for the Haitians in New York City.
Luxama said, “They’re still struggling; their budgets haven’t been increased.” So for him, just because you have “six, seven, 10, 20 Haitians” on a transition committee, “is not important.” He said, “They’re not there to serve Haitians in particular; they’re there to advise him on the best for the city.”
Instead of assigning Haitians to advisory groups or city jobs, Porez suggests that the city create a deputy advisor role focused on the particular needs of the Haitian diaspora.
“The need of the Haitians is unique,” he said. “So they may want to have a special somebody advising particularly for the Haitian community, acting as a liaison or as a deputy, specifically to see how to advance the Haitian needs, especially the TPS.”
Being in a transition station
According to a City & State report, transition committees are in place until Jan. 30. Most have had one in-person kickoff meeting and the rest of their communications are over email and Zoom.
Delia said on her committee, she has been asked to recommend people who might be a good fit with the new administration’s goals of “making the city affordable for New Yorkers, regardless of their country [of origin].” She also fielded policy questions.
The committee comprised a broad range of individuals who sometimes go overlooked in a big city’s government.
“It feels as if perhaps the desire is to give access to a diverse group of people so that, as they’re building out their plan, they’re getting information from enough sources to maybe cover their blind spots,” Delia said.
“I don’t know if our recommendations are reviewed any differently from anybody who applies by themselves,” she added.
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