New York City’s far-left Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has just hired the Democratic Socialist strategist behind a controversial anti-police plan that seeks to replace NYPD officers with social workers.
Elle Bisgaard-Church is widely credited with crafting Mamdani’s most controversial public safety proposal.
On Monday, Mamdani tapped Bisgaard-Church to serve as his chief advisor at City Hall.
It’s the same role she held during his mayoral run and earlier in his tenure as a New York state assemblyman.
Campaign aides described Bisgaard-Church as the “chief architect” behind Mamdani’s proposal to create a Department of Community Safety.
The sweeping plan will replace police officers with social workers and mental health personnel for certain non-violent 911 calls, particularly in the subway system.
The dangerous proposal has been sharply criticized by law-enforcement groups and public-safety advocates, and would cost approximately $1.1 billion, according to Mamdani’s campaign materials.
A DSA-Aligned Operative With Outsized Influence
Bisgaard-Church, an Ivy League-educated California native and relative newcomer to New York politics, is deeply affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Mamdani, like his allies Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), is one of the DSA’s most prominent members.
CBS News reports that she played a pivotal role in shaping Mamdani’s messaging and policy agenda throughout the campaign.
She reportedly consulted with mental-health professionals, public-safety officials from other cities, and even former NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison while developing the plan to divert emergency calls away from police.
The plan seeks to reduce the number of NYPD officers to align with the anti-law enforcement “Defund the Police” agenda of the radical Left.
Her influence inside the campaign stretched beyond policy.
Bisgaard-Church also organized weekly standing meetings with the New York City DSA chapter, integrating the organization’s leadership into campaign strategy and ensuring its priorities were reflected in Mamdani’s platform.
Ideological Motivation: “A Political Choice”
Bisgaard-Church’s remarks in a recent interview with City & State offered an unambiguous look at the worldview guiding the incoming mayor’s top advisor.
“I still feel daily, deeply ashamed to live in a place where we allow people to sleep on concrete at night … and I fundamentally believe it doesn’t have to be that way. It represents (a) political choice,” she said.
“The place where I have seen that shared sense of rage at such a moral failure has been in a handful of movement organizations, including New York City DSA.”
According to the profile, she was galvanized by the DSA’s gains in the 2020 primaries in Brooklyn and Queens and sought a role on Mamdani’s staff soon after arriving in New York through a public-affairs fellowship.
Low-Profile Strategist with Major Pull
Though she avoids social media and rarely speaks to the press, Bisgaard-Church is known within activist and political circles as a key player in securing the DSA’s endorsement for Mamdani.
Her prior work with the group includes helping form its legislative analysis team and drafting a 2021 document outlining how the DSA should interact with elected officials.
In a statement following her new appointment, she said it was “the honor of a lifetime” to lead Mamdani’s campaign and that she is now prepared to deliver on the mayor-elect’s “affordability agenda” while “demonstrating what a well-run City Hall can do for everyday New Yorkers.”
Radical Vision Moving into City Hall
With Bisgaard-Church now set to wield influence from inside the executive office, Mamdani appears committed to pushing forward with an agenda shaped directly by DSA leadership, including the proposal to divert billions toward replacing police officers with civilian responders.
That plan is expected to face intense scrutiny from the NYPD, the City Council, and New Yorkers already concerned about violent crime and deteriorating conditions in the subway.
READ MORE – Social Media Posts of Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Emerge Exposing Extremist Views
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