Eric Adams has been accused of giving his buddies jobs within the parks division.
J.C.Rice
The Adams administration has quietly tapped a Metropolis Council member’s spouse and one other high Bronx Democratic supporter to fill two, high-ranking, $177,000-a-year Parks Division jobs, The Put up has discovered.
The Parks Division in August gave Jessenia Aponte, spouse of Councilman Rafael Salamanca (D-Bronx), an enormous promotion that comes with a $72,000-plus increase, naming her Bronx borough commissioner.
In one other under-the-radar transfer, the company final month handed Anthony Perez, former govt director of the Bronx Democratic Get together, the job of Manhattan borough commissioner.
Each Salamanca and Perez campaigned closely for Eric Adams throughout his profitable 2021 mayoral run, serving to him lock up key Hispanic voting bases, particularly within the Bronx, based on a number of sources.
“It’s unhappy, however not shocking,” stated Geoffrey Croft, a longtime metropolis parks watchdog. “The Parks Division has lengthy been a chief place for patronage jobs – for higher and for worse. What actual qualifications and expertise do these individuals have for working an company past political connections?”
Aponte beforehand earned $104,874 as chief of workers to the division’s assistant commissioner for city park service. Aponte, who can also be her husband’s marketing campaign treasurer, noticed her yearly Parks Division earnings skyrocket 68% after being bumped as much as Bronx commissioner.
Perez beforehand labored as deputy chief of workers within the Council Speaker’s Workplace, the place information present he pulled in $151,509 final 12 months. Perez additionally ran ex-Speaker Corey Johnson’s failed comptroller 2021 marketing campaign.
“I simply don’t get this rent,” stated one metropolis Democratic pol. “What expertise does he have working parks – particularly those in Manhattan? He’s a Bronx man.”
Parks Division spokeswoman Meghan Lalor insisted Perez and Aponte have been chosen via a “honest hiring course of” and have been “probably the most certified candidates for the job” out of a mixed 80 candidates.
“Parks is lucky to have two new borough commissioners with in depth expertise working in metropolis service and each with a deal with constructing communities and bridging gaps,” she added.
The Put up reported that Adams had already rewarded 10 ex-Council members who campaigned for him – each Democrats and Republicans – to plum management posts in his administration since taking workplace in January.
Final week, The Put up additionally reported that Faculties Chancellor David Banks had quietly promoted Adams’ girlfriend Tracey Collins to a high training job, months after Adams tapped Banks’ gal pal Sheena Wright as a deputy mayor.
Metropolis Corridor adamantly defended the strikes, saying Collins and Wright are greater than certified for his or her new jobs, and that the Put up report was “vile and sexist.”
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