Gov. Kathy Hochul has tapped former mayoral candidate and top city sanitation department official Kathryn Garcia to serve in a senior role in her new administration.
Garcia, the longtime public servant who came in second in the Democratic mayoral primary to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, will serve as director of state operation, the newly sworn-in governor said.
“When I was officially sworn in last week, I outlined my top priorities to combat the Delta variant, get aid out the door to New Yorkers as quickly as possible, and to change the culture in Albany,” Hochul said in a statement.
“Kathryn Garcia and Neysa Alsina are tremendously accomplished and dedicated public servants. They know how to run effective and professional operations, and they will be instrumental in making our State government work better for New Yorkers and restoring trust in government.”
Alsina, whom Hochul appointed as an adviser on pandemic relief, previously served as chief lawyer to the city comptroller.
Previously, reps for Hochul and Garcia denied the de Blasio administration official was being considered for the state government role.
Garcia told The Post it was just “rumors” that she would be tapped to be director of state operation when asked on Aug. 11, and her spokesperson said, “I’m not aware of an offer.” When I asked about discussions about serving in Hochul’s administration, the spokesperson said, “Not that I know of.”
On Thursday, Garcia said she’s “very excited” to stay in public service rather than drawing a hefty salary in the private sector.
“I’m very excited. I’m very excited to have the opportunity to make some big impact for state residents. There were opportunities in the private sector that would have paid more, but I like this type of work,” she told The Post. “This is what I enjoy getting up and doing every day. I’m super excited about the challenges ahead.”
Garcia noted her responsibilities will be “incredibly broad,” and listed distributing rent relief money and the upcoming rollout of booster COVID-19 doses as her top priorities in her new role.
“The governor put together a strong team and has continued to build out a string, transparent team and deliverI’m very excited to be working with this team and the governor is committed to working hard on delivering particularly her priorities which are everyone’s priorities — getting rent relief out and making sure people are getting their booster shots,” she said.
Garcia will succeed Kelly Cummings, a former communications staffer for the Republican senate majority, and will oversee all of Empire State’s agencies.
“It covers everything,” said Garcia. “It’s incredibly broad, but it’s incredibly data driven and accountability driven because you are accountable to New York City residents and New York State residents and for delivering on a slew of programs and they care about whether you get the job done.”
Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner, rose from relative obscurity to the top of the pack in the mayoral race. Endorsed by the New York Times, the moderate Democrat pitched herself as a Ms. Fix-It technocrat with the experience in city government to effectively manage the city.
“I’ve been the go-to crisis manager,” she told The Post in December. “There is an enormous amount of interest in politics right now and a real hunger for solutions to New York City’s problems.”
As she rose in standing in the race, Garcia faced criticism about diversity and gender pay equity when she headed the city’s Sanitation Department.
In the final days of the campaign, Garcia engaged in a campaign tactic never seen before in New York City politics.
After ripping fellow contender Andrew Yang as clueless about city government, she teamed up with him in the campaign’s final stretch, earning his No. 2 endorsement in the ranked-choice election while declining to return the favor.
But her last-ditch maneuver wasn’t enough to beat Adams, who in early July was declared the winner of the June Democratic primary.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile