Eric Adams pads NYC payroll with 293 ‘special assistants’

Metro

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By Rich Calder

Mayor Adams padded the city payroll with 293 “special assistants” during his first full fiscal year in office — a more than 20% increase over his predecessor Bill de Blasio, The Post has learned.

The bloated band of vaguely titled aides, accountable only to Adams, comprised roughly one-third of the Mayor’s Office staff during the yearly period ending June 30 and cost taxpayers $24.3 million, according to payroll records.

Eighty-five pocketed six-figure earnings in fiscal 2023 – including 13 who took in more than $200,000.

They include Edward Mermelstein, a real estate exec with reportedly close ties to sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, former Deputy Comptroller Marjorie Lander, and Sideya Sherman, a one-time exec with the city’s Housing Authority.

Mermelstein, who along with his wife Rose donated $7,100 to Adams’ 2021 campaign and post-election transition, earned $228,659 working under the unofficial title of the city’s “Commissioner of International Affairs.”

The city’s website lists him as a former refugee from Ukraine even though he’s previously described himself for many years as Russian-American.

Lander and Sherman both pocketed $227,161 heading two newly created offices.

Lander runs the Mayor’s Office of Risk Management and Compliance, and Sherman the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice.

Topping the list of high-earning special assistants are two honchos no longer on the city payroll.

Melanie LaRocca, the city’s ex-chief efficiency officer, resigned in June, and Jessica Katz, Adams’ former chief housing officer, stepped down in July. Both earned $246,898.

De Blasio infamously used the special-assistant gigs in part to take care of political operatives biding their time waiting for the next campaign — a kind of publicly funded farm system akin to the ones used by Major League Baseball teams.

The fact that the jobs aren’t covered by civil service rules also gives mayors the latitude to dole out salaries and raises beyond the established ranges for comparable positions.

Now, some pols and City Hall insiders are questioning whether Adams is following the same playbook heading into his 2025 re-election campaign.

Some top senior aides and other political operatives hired by Adams as special assistants include:

Ex-state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), left Albany and was appointed in January at a $201,000 salary — nearly double what she previously made as a senator. She works directly with Adams’ chief advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin.

Stefan Ringel, a longtime Adams top aide and campaign advisor arrived at City Hall with the mayor in January 2022 and 10 months later got a $10,000 raise, upping his salary to $154,442.

Winnie Greco, another Adams ally who earns $100,000 yearly as his Asian community affairs liaison. Greco allegedly promised an Adams campaign volunteer a City Hall job if he completed renovation work on her home — and asked another for a hefty donation in exchange for Gracie Mansion access, The City reported last month. The Department of Investigation is reviewing the matter.

Rana Abbasova, who allegedly lied to investigators amid an ongoing federal corruption probe into Adams’ 2021 campaign fundraising. Abbasova, one of Adams’ key links to the Turkish community, earns $80,651 working out of the Office for International Affairs, but she was put on leave last month for “acting improperly.”

“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 Republican Curtis Sliwa, who lost the 2021 mayoral race 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 added. “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.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) agreed, saying “For every special assistant, there’s at least two less cops on the street.”

“Whether it’s offering illegal immigrants free housing while cutting services from citizens or hiring more assistants at City Hall while cutting public safety officers, Mayor Adams is showing his priorities are backwards,” said Malliotakis.

De Blasio had come under fire for allegedly inflating his use of special assistants to get around civil service rules and take care of political operatives, with a high of 339 special assistants in fiscal 2019 — more than triple the 109 ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg had when he left office in 2013, according to records.

By fiscal 2021, de Blasio trimmed his number of special assistants to 243, costing taxpayers $21.1 million. 

The city spent a similar amount on special assistants in fiscal 2022 but saw the number of these aides rise to 321 — largely because the 12-month period covered the last six months of the de Blasio administration and the first six months of Adams’ administration. 

Ken Girardin, with the taxpayer-watchdog group Empire Center for Public Policy, said Adams’ desire to “bloat” his payroll with fringe special assistants “only weakens his case for more federal and state support” to help the city deal with the migrant crisis.

Adams last month announced he’s moving ahead with across-the-board 5% cuts at all city agencies, with another 10% cut set for early next year, to offset an expected $12 billion tab for helping asylum seekers.

“This isn’t just about dollars being wasted” on special assistants and other Adams aides, “it’s about the message it sends to every department head being asked to stretch their pennies,” said Girardin.

The Mayor’s Office did not return messages.