New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed Abby Stein, a trans woman and Rabbi, to his expansive transition team. The choice – in line with many of Mamdani’s promises – has upset some folks on the right.

Before being appointed to the transition team, Stein supported his mayoral bid, appearing in his “Jews for Zohran” campaign. “We know Zohran will fight to make our city affordable and safe for our families,” Stein said in an ad. ”As Jews, as rabbis, as New Yorkers, we believe that all people deserve to thrive. Zohran agrees.”

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Mamdani, who won the NYC mayoral election at the start of November, beating out former Governor Andrew Cuomo, will be sworn in on January 1, 2026. Ahead of that, he is setting up a wealth of transition committees, which will help prepare his administration to hit the ground running on day one.

Stein was raised in an Orthodox Hasidic Jewish family. After suppressing her gender identity since childhood, she left the Hasidic community in 2012 and came out as trans in 2015.

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Now identifying as ex-Orthodox, Stein is still a practicing Rabbi, serving part-time at Brooklyn’s Kolot Chayein synagogue. She released her first book in 2019, a memoir titled Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman. That memoir has since been adapted into the off-Broadway play of the same name.

Stein has made headlines both for her coming out story and her activism, which is primarily related to her support for Palestine and her condemnation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Her beliefs led to her being kicked out of the White House Pride Party in 2024.

Some right-wingers are, predictably, not happy about Stein’s inclusion on Mamdani’s transition team, which he claims includes more than 400 experts across 17 committees. Conservatives have taken issue both with her gender identity and with her pro-Palestine position. However, some supportive voices have pointed out that those are hardly negatives for Mamdani’s stances.

Mamdani’s campaign was vehemently pro-LGBTQ+ throughout and included appearances at Pride, visits to LGBTQ+ nightclubs, and a notable video highlighting trans activist Sylvia Rivera. Mamdani has also pledged to protect trans New Yorkers.

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