Editor’s note: Adams admin shakeup should open opportunity for another Latino deputy mayor

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has undergone an unprecedented administration shakeup with several top aides resigning amid ongoing investigations that have rocked City Hall. One of the tasks at hand has been filling those openings. Still open is the position of police commissioner. Meanwhile, Interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlon was expected to step down last week after federal agents searched his home. Adams was reportedly considering either Sanitation Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch or former First Deputy Police Commissioner Ben Tucker for the post.

Absent from all these considerations is a Latino candidate. At best, City Hall could use a second Latino deputy mayor. Adams didn’t start off with one and didn’t get around to appointing Ana Almanzar, who is Dominican, as deputy mayor for strategic initiatives until May of last year. I asked Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who is also Dominican and the highest ranking Latino agency head, if he aspires to be a deputy mayor, but he wouldn’t say, and insisted he was “laser-focused” on his job. City Hall also couldn’t say if a Latino would rise soon. “Our goal is always to elevate and hire the best people for the best jobs in the world,” Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy wrote in an email. “Our administration is proud to have so many high-level Latino leaders in vital roles, including Deputy Mayor Almanzar, Commissioner Rodriguez, and so many others, and we look forward to running a city that looks like the city it represents.” Hopefully, that includes more of New York’s Latinos.