Zohran Mamdani taps budget vet as go-between in Albany to push socialist agenda

She’s Zoh’s Albany whisperer.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani tapped budget veteran Simonia Brown on Wednesday to be his go-between with state lawmakers as he presses his socialist agenda.

Brown, 42, will serve as senior adviser for policy and strategy in her return to City Hall, where she previously held a similar role pressing the Big Apple’s priorities in Albany for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Her track record of winning budgets and policies that lift up working people will be invaluable as we deliver on our affordability agenda for New Yorkers,” Mamdani said in a statement.

The appointment of Brown appears far less incendiary than Mamdani’s pick of Cea Weaver, his Democratic Socialists of America-member tenant advocate whose fiery past included blasting homeownership as a “weapon of white supremacy.”

By contrast, Brown built a low-profile career as a quietly influential public servant, moving steadily through key roles in Albany and New York City government over the past two decades, according to her LinkedIn.

She most recently served as assistant comptroller under New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Brown’s rise into statewide leadership followed a tour through City Hall during the de Blasio’s administration, serving as director of state legislative affairs — a key emissary to Albany on budget and policy matters.

The experience could come in handy as much of Mamdani’s $10 billion promises — from universal childcare to free buses — depends on backing from Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers, particularly on his goal to boost taxes on the rich.

The city’s budget stood at roughly $75 billion in 2013, when Brown’s former boss — de Blasio — first took office. The groundhog killing mayor then presided over year after year of spending increases, leading to a whopping $98.6 billion budget during 2021, his last year in office.

By the time de Blasio’s successor Eric Adams left office in 2025, the budget ballooned $118.6 billion.

Mamdani also appointed Christine Clarke, a New York City-based civil rights and poverty lawyer, to serve as chair and commissioner for the City Commission on Human Rights.

Clarke, an Oberlin College and Yale Law School grad, built her career in constitutional and civil rights law, including her past roles directing the Civil Rights Justice Initiative at Legal Services NYC and pressing national abortion‑access cases for Planned Parenthood.

When President Trump’s administration removed references to transgender people from the Stonewall Memorial, Clarke released a statement through Legal Services NYC condemning the attempt to “erase trans people from history.”

“The federal government cannot erase transgender and gender non-conforming people from the fabric of our society, from our families, or from our communities,” she said in the statement. “This attempt to erase trans people from history is yet another attempt to hurt people, to divide us, to harden our culture, and to incite hatred against a community of people who every day risk their lives to simply exist.”

— Additional reporting by Hannah Fierick and Vaughn Golden