NYC Mayor-Elect Adams Picks Five Women for Key Leadership Posts

(Bloomberg) -- New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams announced five picks for top lieutenants in his administration on Monday, leaning on five women with government and nonprofit experience to help revive a city still reeling economically from the pandemic. 

Adams named Lorraine Grillo, the city’s Covid recovery czar, as first deputy mayor. Meera Joshi, former CEO of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission under Mayor Bill de Blasio, will be deputy mayor for operations. Nonprofit executive Anne Williams-Isom will be deputy mayor for health and human services. 

The Ford Foundation’s Maria Torres-Springer will be deputy mayor for economic and workforce development. Sheena Wright, the CEO of the United Way of New York City, will be deputy mayor for strategic initiatives. 

Adams also named his picks to lead the city’s transportation agencies, including Ydanis Rodriguez as the first Latino Department of Transportation commissioner. Rodriguez, chair of the City Council’s transportation committee for eight years, was a major supporter of Adams during his campaign. Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk will continue to lead the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Pandemic Recovery

In New York City, mayors have flexibility over the structure of the executive branch and deputies. While Adams has said he will also select a deputy mayor for public safety, the structure closely resembles the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

The appointments will be charged with directly managing the city’s response as it tries to improve the city’s stubbornly high unemployment rate, reduce homelessness and crime, and increase tourism again. 

The team, which will take over on Jan. 1, will also have to contend with the most recent Covid spike in the city, which has caused a rapid jump in Covid cases and spurned a round of business closures just as the winter holidays approach.

“For us to ensure that this city recovers quickly while addressing the inequalities that plagued us well before COVID-19 struck, we must have top leadership that can both deliver for New Yorkers and is representative of New Yorkers,” Adams said.

Government Experience

Many of Adams most recent appointments have worked for or advised de Blasio and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

Grillo, who will directly advise Adams on issues citywide, joined the city’s School Construction Authority in 1994 and was appointed as its president in 2010 by Bloomberg. De Blasio appointed her his Covid recovery czar earlier this year. Williams-Isom, who formerly ran the Harlem Children’s Zone, started working for the city in 1996 and was deputy commissioner for the Administration for Children’s Services under Bloomberg. 

Torres-Springer, vice president for U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation, was de Blasio’s housing commissioner and held previous posts in economic development small business services. Joshi held a number of executive positions in city agencies under both de Blasio and Bloomberg.

Wright, who has served key advisory roles during Adams’s campaign and transition, has also served on advisory boards for Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Her partner, David Banks, will serve as New York City’s schools chancellor.

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