New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday members of his senior staff who will oversee operations at City Hall and advance his strategic policies and priorities, which included the appointment of two Orthodox Jews.
Menashe Shapiro, who earned his BA cum laude in economics from Yeshiva University and his JD from Cardozo Law School of Yeshiva University, will join the Adams administration as deputy chief of staff to Frank Carone.
Shapiro worked on the mayoral and presidential campaigns of Michael Bloomberg, ran his own consulting firm and was a key advisor to Mayor Adams’ campaign and a member of the appointments committee on his mayoral transition.
Another senior appointee is Fred Kreizman who will serve as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU), in the same department where he served during the Bloomberg administration.
Kreizman, who earned an MPA in government from Pace University, and a BS from Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, has been a longtime friend of the Jewish community in Crown Heights. He served on the board of directors of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and was the managing director of the Capalino government relations firm.
“This team has the experience, knowledge, and skill to take our government — and our city — to new heights,” said Mayor Adams. “Our motto is ‘Get Stuff Done’ — and we are already off to a flying start. Together, we will work day in and day out to make New York City safer, more equitable, and more prosperous for all.”
Chanina Sperlin of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC) congratulated Commissioner Kreizman on his appointment.
“Our friend and new Mayor Eric Adams has hit another home run with this selection of my good friend Fred Kreizman to head the Community Affairs Office,” Sperlin told COLlive.com.
“As Assistant Commissioner, and later as Deputy Commissioner in the Bloomberg Administration, Fred Kreizman was always extremely responsive to the needs of the community. He consistently took effective action to address any concern, whether it was an act of antisemitism or other threat to the Jewish Community or a problem that affected our African-American or Caribbean American neighbors.”
This story first appeared on COLLive.com.
