Mamdani appoints election attorney, advisor Ali Najmi to chair judiciary committee
Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed longtime advisor and election attorney Ali Najmi to chair the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary as it begins a new initiative to engage a wider swath of the city’s legal community in its judge selection responsibilities on Friday.
“My Administration will promote transparency in how we select New York City’s judges and ensure our city’s judicial system reflects the city it serves, applies the rule of law universally, and does so without favor,” Mamdani said. “There is no one better to lead this effort than Ali Najmi, who will bring the same determination and commitment he’s brought to the courtroom for decades to his new role chairing the Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.”
The committee is responsible for evaluating and appointing judges to the city’s family and criminal courts, as well as interim judges to its civil courts.
Najmi is a longtime friend and advisor to Mamdani. A fellow Queens resident, the two met when Mamdani volunteered to knock doors on Najmi’s unsuccessful 2015 bid for a City Council seat in eastern Queens. The men have remained close since — they regularly refer to each other as brothers —with Najmi taking on Mamdani as a client and mentee through the latter’s state Assembly and mayoral races.
https://www.amny.com/law/mamdani-ali-najmi-judiciary-committee/