During his first full fiscal year in office, Mayor Adams added 293 “special assistants” to the municipal payroll, increasing it by more than 20% above his predecessor, Bill de Blasio, according to information obtained by The New York Post.
Payroll records show that during the year period ending June 30, the swollen group of aides with ambiguous titles who reported exclusively to Adams accounted for about one-third of the Mayor’s Office personnel, and they cost the taxpayers $24.3 million.
In the fiscal year 2023, 85 people made six figures, 13 of them made over $200,000. These include Sideya Sherman, a former executive with the city’s Housing Authority, former Deputy Comptroller Marjorie Lander, and Russian-American real estate executive Edward Mermelstein, who is purportedly linked to the sanctioned Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg. Mermelstein was paid $228,659 to operate as the unofficial “Commissioner of International Affairs” for the city.
Two high-ranking special assistants who are no longer employed by the city are at the top of the list. Jessica Katz, the former chief housing officer of Adams, resigned in July, while Melanie LaRocca, the former chief efficiency officer, resigned in June. They each made $246,898.
“A lot of these people are being kept in orbit, so they don’t leave the Adams fold and are available for the campaign,” said Curtis Sliwa, a Republican who lost the 2021 mayoral election to Adams.
“It sends a horrible message – especially with the NYPD, Fire Department and other city agencies facing heavy cuts” to help cover New York’s migrant crisis, Sliwa addedto the Post. “He’s got to show he’s cutting his own fat — all these special assistants, advisors that he created jobs for that never existed. It’s time to clean house.”
Adams’ aim to “bloat” his payroll with unpaid special assistants, according to Ken Girardin of the taxpayer advocacy organization Empire Center for Public Policy, “only weakens his case for more federal and state support” to assist the city in resolving the immigration situation.
However, City Hall spokesperson Charles Lutvak defended Hizzoner’s policy. “Mayor Adams has always hired the right people for the right jobs, and the public servants in our administration are ‘Getting Stuff Done’ for New Yorkers every day,” he said in a statement. “At the same time, fiscal responsibility has been a hallmark of this administration, with a [strong AA] bond rating from Fitch amid significant budgetary challenges,” he added. “Every city agency, including the Mayor’s Office, has dug deep into their own budgets to find savings, and we will continue to do what is necessary to balance the budget as required by law.”
