⚡ The Smartest Move in New York Politics: Mamdani Appoints Lina Khan to Help Lead Transition.

He didn’t pick a celebrity. He picked the nation’s sharpest legal mind — and signaled he’s dead serious about systemic change.

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Let me say this as plainly as I can. Zohran Mamdani just made the smartest early move a mayor‑elect could make. By putting Lina Khan on his transition team, he signaled that City Hall is not going to tweet about affordability — it’s going to govern it. That one choice tells me he’s deadly serious about systemic change and the hard, legal work it takes to make a city livable.

Why this appointment matters

Khan is not a talker. She’s a lawyer and a builder who excavates old laws and enforces them with precision. As chair of the Federal Trade Commission, she revived dormant authorities most people had forgotten existed — from mass Notices of Penalty Offense to dusting off the Robinson–Patman Act — because the problem wasn’t the absence of rules, it was the absence of will.

Now, in New York City, that same muscle is being aimed at the everyday rip‑offs that make this town feel unlivable:

• a 56‑year‑old city law against “unconscionable” business practices that can protect captive consumers;

• a new state requirement that companies disclose algorithmic pricing;

• and local consumer‑protection tools past administrations barely touched.

I’ve read the reporting: Khan is studying the legal footholds inside city and state code — exactly the stuff mayors ignore until somebody with vision puts it on the table. That’s governance. Not vibes. Not slogans. Receipts.

What this signals in practice

• Real relief for captive customers. Think hospitals billing patients more for basic painkillers than a corner pharmacy. Think stadiums charging $15 for a hot dog because you have no other option. Khan’s focus says: if it’s unconscionable, it’s actionable.

• Transparency on pricing algorithms. If an app is quietly charging one neighbor more than another, City Hall can use new disclosure laws to force daylight — and penalties for deception.

• A culture shift inside government. Instead of waiting on Albany or Washington, the mandate becomes: use what’s already on the books and litigate if necessary. That’s how change happens in a city of 8.5 million.

The politics of seriousness

People will try to brand this as “anti‑business.” That’s lazy. Competition is pro‑consumer. Transparency is pro‑honesty. Enforcement is pro‑fairness. You don’t fix a city by tweeting “corporate greed.” You fix it by naming the exploit, finding the statute, and then bringing the case.

Khan did not become a national figure by winning Twitter. She did it by winning authority back for the public — sending thousands of formal warnings to companies that crossed legal lines, and taking on giants with novel theories of harm rooted in old law. Pair that with a mayor‑elect who actually wants to govern, and you have the beginnings of a machine for affordability.

My read on Mamdani

Every new mayor gets a few chances to tell the city who they’re going to be. This was one of them. Appoint a celebrity, you get headlines. Appoint Lina Khan, you get outcomes. To me, this move says Mamdani understands the difference between performing populism and delivering it.

If you want a New York that’s less extractive and more humane, this is what it takes: lawyers who know where the levers are, and leaders brave enough to pull them.

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Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun

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