Mayor-elect Eric Adams plans to announce his transition team within the week — and it’s packed with a diverse cross-section of Big Apple heavyweights from Ford Foundation chair Darren Walker to CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez and 32BJ union boss Kyle Bragg, The Post has learned.
United Way CEO Sheena Wright has been leading the team, but will add six co-chairs in the coming days, according to multiple sources.
In addition to Ford’s Walker, CUNY’s Matos Rodriguez and 32BJ’s Bragg, the group will be rounded out by Sharon Greenberger, CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York, Steven Choi, former New York Immigration Coalition director, and Hotel Trades Council president Rich Maroko.
“He’s showing that you can be in the middle and still adhere to progressive values of diversity and inclusion,” veteran political strategist Ken Lovett, of Ichor Strategies, told The Post about the Adams team that includes white, black, Asian American and Latino members.
“I think the CUNY chancellor is good symbolism in particular because we’ve seen enrollment declines in education, especially for communities of color and low-income communities. Having him as a face of the transition is a good thing,” Lovett, a former Post Albany reporter, said of Matos Rodriguez.
CUNY is also seeking a double-digit increase in state and city aid amid declining enrollment.
Lovett descried Choi as “bright” and “committed to issues impacting the immigrant communities.” He was behind the push to legalize driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants and wants local voting rights for green card holders.
Walker controls the $16 billion philanthropy and is helping struggling nonprofits recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Greenberger has led the YMCA for the last six years. Before that she oversaw a $2 billion expansion of New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Bragg, as president of 32BJ SEIU, represents 175,000 building services workers including cleaners, doormen and security officers. Maroko’s Hotel Trades Council is a politically connected union whose ranks were devastated as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered hotels around the five boroughs.
The co-chairs will oversee committees on public safety, education, tech, housing and economic development.
Transition staffers include campaign communications director Evan Thies and campaign adviser Menashe Shapiro, who’s involved in vetting Adams commissioners and other high-level appointments. Boston Consulting Group is also pitching in.
“Eric’s transition will represent the full breadth of talent and diversity New York has to offer, and include the voices of every community so that the Adams administration will reflect the priorities and values of New Yorkers,” Thies said.
Phillips, former CEO of Infor, who was a top guy in Democratic mayoral candidate Ray McGuire’s campaign, is in charge of building public-private partnerships.
Also involved in the transition are City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, consultant Tiffany Raspberry and former New York City Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. PR executive Ronn Torossian is an informal adviser.
Alumni of both Mayor Bill de Blasio and his predecessor Michael Bloomberg are playing different roles in the transition. Both Maria Torres Springer, who was a housing commissioner for de Blasio, and Matthew Wambua, who ran the same department for Bloomberg, are part of the team.
Brooklyn Democratic Party lawyer Frank Carone is counsel to the transition.
“We look forward to sharing the full roster of transition members and other news about the transition and how it will engage New Yorkers soon,” Thies said.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile