5 things to know about First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday that Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor of New York City for housing, economic development and workforce, will become his first deputy mayor, following Sheena Wright’s departure.

“When we make these moves, we ask the peers who they would like to lead them, and it was fascinating how all the fellow deputy mayors clearly stated that DM Maria Torres-Springer was the right person,” Adams said Tuesday, commending “her ability to remain calm during rough seas.” 

Adams’ previous first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright, stepped down from the position amid a mass resignation of Adams’ top aides, including Wright’s husband, outgoing New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks. The administration has been lately rocked by a series of federal raids and a five-count corruption indictment.

The first deputy mayor is the highest ranking deputy mayor, guiding day-to-day city operations and services. They also oversee various city offices, including the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Finance and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

Here are five things to know about Torres-Springer:

She is in charge of the mayor’s signature housing proposal

When Adams has been criticized for lacking a clear policy agenda, his defenders point to “City of Yes” – an ambitious set of proposals to incentivize housing construction in New York City. City of Yes aims to tackle the affordable housing problem through a series of zoning reforms allowing more density. Torres-Springer leads the City of Yes initiatives, core aspects of which the City Council is set to deliberate on later this month. Torres-Springer also helped lead the mayor’s Albany strategy last session, securing several major housing victories from the state Legislature.

Torres-Springer also oversaw the city’s “Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent” initiative to rebuild the city’s economic progress following fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

One of the most notable projects she was involved in is the Willets Point transformation, the largest affordable housing project in over 40 years, which aims to bring 2,500 affordable housing units and 150,000 square feet of public space to Queens along with a soccer stadium.

She is a seasoned bureaucrat

Torres-Springer has played major roles during Bloomberg, de Blasio, and Adams administrations, and she’s generally well-respected and considered competent – despite Adams’ issues. 

During former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, she was the executive vice president and chief of staff for the city’s Economic Development Corporation. She participated in numerous citywide economic projects, including renovations to Governors Island and a 27-acre renovation project in Coney Island. 

Torres-Springer held numerous appointments during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. De Blasio first appointed her to be the commissioner to the Department of Small Business Services in January 2014. She held this position until June 2015, when she returned back to EDC as president from June 2015 to January 2017. Her final appointment under the de Blasio administration was her role as commissioner to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Torres-Springer made her entrance into Adams’ team when he appointed her to be the deputy mayor of housing, economic development and workforce in December 2021. She held this role from January 2022 to October 2024.

She is half of a political power couple

Maria’s husband Jamie Torres-Springer, another longtime public servant, has served as president of construction and development at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority since 2021.  Jamie is in charge of the MTA’s capital program, which is sort of in shambles at the moment after Gov. Kathy Hochul abruptly turned her back on the planned congestion pricing scheme to fund the transit system.

Before joining the MTA, Jamie was the commissioner to the city’s Department of Design and Construction under de Blasio, where he led the Strategic Blueprint for Construction Excellence. 

She has a background in philanthropy

Before Torres-Springer reentered city government in 2022, she was the vice president of U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation from 2019 to 2021. She ran the foundation’s national grant-making processes and led monumental investments to support racial justice, workers’ rights, voting rights and arts and culture initiatives across the U.S.

Even though she is no longer with the Ford Foundation, leaders continue to commend her contributions to the organization and an equitable future.

“With her relentless pursuit of justice, she is not just shaping the present but forging a future path where equity is the standard, not the exception,” Ford Foundation President Darren Walker said in a press release announcing Torres-Springer’s appointment on Tuesday. “I congratulate her on this new role at a critical time for our city and look forward to seeing her continue to challenge systemic barriers and create lasting change for all New Yorkers while always operating with the utmost integrity.”   

She is the daughter of immigrant parents

Torres-Springer cites her parents’ immigrant struggles as a reason for why she pursues her work in the public sector. At the December 2021 news conference announcing her appointment as deputy mayor for housing, economic development and workforce, she said her parents immigrated to the U.S. to the Philippines a year before she was born. She applauded her parents’ hard work as they worked multiple jobs but still financially struggled and relied on Section 8 food vouchers and food stamps throughout her childhood. 

Torres-Springer is the first person in her family to attend a U.S. college. She said her parents gave her all their money in their bank accounts so that she could pursue a university degree. She received her bachelor's degree in ethics, politics and economics from Yale University and her master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.