Mayor-elect Adams announces official transition team

Before Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, his new team of executives, labor and organizational leaders will lead the vital transition process. 

The full list of transition team members hasn’t been released, but Adams’ team announced the co-chairs, such as Goldman Sachs CFO Stephen Scherr, on Nov. 10. 

Perspective administartion employees and those wanting to get involved in the transition can do so on Adams transition website, adamstransition2021.com.

“I am excited to get started and to help Eric make New York a safer, fairer, more prosperous city for all New Yorkers,” said Kyle Bragg, president of 32BJ SEIU and co-chair of the transition team. Bragg leads a union of about 35,000 members in New York City. 

The team of 10 co-chairs is led by Sheena Wright, president and CEO of United Way of New York City. Originally from the Bronx, Wright is the first woman to lead United Way of NYC. She is a force in the nonprofit sector and will likely be in charge of reviewing the slew of applications for Adams’ transition team that will arrive in the coming weeks. Wright also began Together we Thrive, a Black business network that provided technical support to small businesses in the wake of COVID-19. 

“Over the next seven weeks, we will task a dozen committees and dozens of committed experts and advocates with the essential work of preparing the Adams Administration to deliver for New Yorkers,” the transition chair said. 

Adams’ team did not respond immediately to requests for comment on what these committees will be. 

Back in 2013, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s transition team was led by Jennifer Jones Austin and Carl Weisbro, the latter of which had a history in multiple mayoral administrations before joining de Blasio’s team. Austin had a similar background to Adams’ chair—a history in nonprofit work with low-income New Yorkers. 

The other co-chairs of Adams’ transition team are Rich Maroko, President of the New York Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, Sharon Greenberger, President and CEO of YMCA of Greater New York, Steven Choi, Executive Director of One for Democracy, David Lee, Chair of the League of Asian Americans of New York, Charles Phillips, Infor CEO, Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, Chancellor of The City University of New York and Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation. Together, they cover diverse communities of residents, the education community, labor stakeholders and much more.