Weatherhead East Asian Institute faculty member Qin Gao appeared on CUNY TV earlier this month to offer commentary on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s transition team. CUNY TV’s Asian American Life focused on the diverse nature of Mamdani’s appointees, in particular the two Asian Americans he named as transition co-chairs: former chair of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan and former deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer.
Speaking in her role as Acting Director of Columbia’s Asian American Initiative (AAI), Professor Gao argued for the importance of a mayoral team that looks like New York City.
“A good representation in the transition team—in any administration—is a good thing, because people’s concerns can be reflected,” she said. “Different communities — how they live, what they want, where are their needs? — can be translated into policy, into action.”
Professor Gao is also Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice and Associate Dean for Doctoral Education at Columbia’s School of Social Work. In the Asian American Life clip she notes that Lina Khan is an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School — another connection between the university and New York City’s new mayor, who is of course the son of another faculty member, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government Mahmood Mamdani of the Department of Anthropology.
Watch Qin Gao’s CUNY TV segment below:
