April promotions, announcements and appointments
Elizabeth Crotty appointed head of the Business Integrity Commission
New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently announced the appointment of Elizabeth Crotty as commissioner and chair of the New York City Business Integrity Commission (BIC).
The mission of BIC is to ensure that trade waste and wholesale market companies, which have historically been plagued by corruption and connections to organized crime, are conducting their business safely and with integrity. Previously, Crotty was the founding partner at Crotty Saland, PC.
Crotty has an established record of successfully handling high-level cases of corruption, fraud, racketeering, and money laundering.
“From day one, my administration made a commitment to transparency and accountability, to establish a culture that adheres to the highest standards of integrity and good government, and the appointment of Liz Crotty is part of that work,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “Liz Crotty is delivering more than 20 years of criminal trial experience to help New York City in its mission to ensure businesses in the commercial trade waste industry and wholesale food markets conduct their affairs with integrity and honesty.”
Mayor Adams has made clear that his administration will be guided by the values of accountability, transparency, and fidelity to the highest ethical standards.
To that end, the administration undertook a reorganization to consolidate key ethics and enforcement agencies into a single portfolio under the Chief Counsel, including BIC, the Commission on Human Rights, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the Commission to Combat Police Corruption, the newly-created Mayor’s Office of Risk Management and Compliance, the Office of Administrative Justice Coordinator, and the Mayor’s Judiciary Committee.
The Chief Counsel’s Office also conducts an extensive and mandatory legal and ethics training program for all mayor’s office employees, which began even before the administration took office.
Mayor Adams also recently signed Executive Order 6, which reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to free speech transparency, particularly around the sharing of information by agencies.
“The Business Integrity Commission will play a critical role in ensuring that those who conduct business in the city do so fairly and transparently, and Liz is the right person to lead the agency into its next chapter,” Brendan McGuire, chief counsel to the Mayor and City Hall, said.
“I am honored by Mayor Adams’ confidence in me to run this unique law enforcement and regulatory agency, ensuring trade waste and wholesale market companies are conducting their business safely and with integrity,” Crotty said.
“From my experience as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office overseeing complex domestic and international financial investigations, to my 13 years in private practice, I am ready to take on this task. A fair playing field with an open and competitive market in these industries is essential for New York’s economy and post-COVID recovery. I am ready to go to work.”
“We are confident that Commissioner Crotty’s appointment will further enhance our shared public-safety mission, and her leadership of the BIC will benefit all the people we serve,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said.
“The Business Integrity Commission works daily to ensure the businesses they regulate are operating ethically and safely,” New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga said.
“The regulatory work BIC does is crucial to helping NYC businesses operate safely and fairly,” New York City Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Kevin Kim said. “I am looking forward to working closely with Commissioner Liz Crotty to make it clear to all businesses that this city is not only open for business, but that we are committed to a business environment based on transparency and integrity.”
Kate Pechenkina named Dean of Social Sciences
President Frank H. Wu has appointed Kate Pechenkina as dean of the School of Social Sciences. Pechenkina has been serving in this position on an interim basis since July 2020. A physical anthropologist, bioarcheologist, scholar of human epidemiology, and specialist on ancient China, she will advocate for diverse social sciences.
As interim dean, Pechenkina was instrumental in developing the new Queens College School of Business. She has been coordinating the 4+1 program in public health with the CUNY Graduate School of Public Heath, supervising the redesign of the pre-law advisory program, and overseeing the faculty diversity enhancement program sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello named Chaplain of the New York City Fire Department
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Annunciation parish in Williamsburg, has been named a Chaplain for the New York City Fire Department.
“I am very honored and humbled to be part of one of the greatest fire departments in the country. The fires I will put out will not be the fires that destroy buildings and take lives, they will be the fires of suffering and loss,” said Msgr. Gigantiello.
“Right now, we may be a divided city but when it comes to tragedy we are so united, we come together as a city and we come together as a church because we all believe in one God and we let them know they are not alone.”
FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro presided over the swearing-in ceremony on Monday.
“They are with us on our good days and on our most dark days, they are with the families to tell them that God will remain with them and I could not picture the department existing without chaplains,” Nigro said.
Monsignor Gigantiello was ordained in 1995. He has served as parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Parish, Bay Ridge, and Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Old Mill Basin, where he installed as pastor in 2002 and served until 2013.
He is the director of the office of Parish Giving, and Vicar for development for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
He has also served on a variety of civic and not-for-profit boards, including the Board of Directors of Mercy First. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, the NYPD made him an Honorary Chaplain in recognition of his work at Ground Zero.
Monsignor Gigantiello joins seven other chaplains serving the FDNY.
Debra Pantin named by NYS Gov. Hochul to State Opioid Settlement Board
Debra Pantin, president and CEO of Outreach, has been named by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to the state’s Opioid Settlement Board.
The 21-member board is tasked with helping distribute settlement money from opioid manufacturers and distributors who took advantage of customers leading to record overdoses and deaths from opioids.
The settlement proceeds total at least $1.5 billion earmarked for New York from a number of entities named in lawsuits.
“This is a tremendous responsibility, one that will entail careful consideration so the settlement funds are best used to help those battling opioid addiction,” Pantin said. “I’m thankful to Governor Hochul for including me on this panel and I look forward to working with my colleagues to work for the citizens in New York State who have been adversely affected by the opioid crisis.”
In the Governor’s announcement, which also included the appointment of Anne Constantino, president and CEO of Horizon Health Services, Hochul said, “As we make our comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must commit to also mitigating the impact of the opioid pandemic New Yorkers have endured for many years. That is why I am appointing Anne Constantino and Debra Pantin, two dedicated and qualified public servants to work with me in delivering results to improve prevention, treatment, and recovery for New Yorkers who need our support.”
Debra Pantin has headed Outreach for the past three years. A social worker by trade, she has extensive experience in helping communities and improving outcomes.
In her prior positions as CEO of VIP Community Services in the Bronx, Debbie was able to help oversee unprecedented growth in agency operations, increasing funding from $21 million to $30 million during her tenure. Debbie has also been president of the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of New York State (ASAPNYS) and is the current chair of Mental Health News Education’s Board of Directors.
She was previously co-chair of the Substance Abuse Treatment Committee for the Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies.
MTA Appoints Richard Davey as President of NYC Transit
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber today announced the appointment of former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey as the next president of New York City Transit.
As president, Davey will oversee the 54,000-person workforce, as well as operations for New York City subways, buses, paratransit services, and the Staten Island Railway.
Davey served in several high-ranking transit leadership posts in Massachusetts and has a background in every mode of public transportation. He was Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation from 2011 to 2014, but Davey’s transit career began at Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) in 2003.
He was promoted to general manager in 2008, and customer complaints dropped 40 percent during his first year leading the agency.
In 2010, Davey accepted the general manager position for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). While he was there, MBTA had its highest annual ridership since 1946.
“To take over an operation as large as New York City Transit, the goal was to find someone with a diversified transit background and strong leadership skills,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “Rich is someone New Yorkers should feel confident in as the agency moves forward with major accessibility improvements and other capacity and reliability-oriented upgrades like signal modernization, as well as megaprojects such as Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway and, in years to come, Governor Hochul’s Interborough Express.”
Room and Board appoints McGarvey as Director of Sustainablity
Room & Board, the home furnishings retailer, announces Emily McGarvey as its first Director of Sustainability.
In this new role, McGarvey will be responsible for implementing environmentally-sound strategies that further advance the company’s mission of delivering built-to-last furniture through sustainable practices that prioritize American craftsmanship.
McGarvey brings 20 years of experience spearheading social and environmental strategies with a focus on product, supply chain, operations, and branding.
In 2018, she founded Star Impact Consulting, where she provided purpose-driven strategy and branding for both for-profit and nonprofit business sectors such as Apparel Impact Institute.
“My initial framework for furthering Room & Board’s sustainability strategy is to elevate our position as a sustainability leader by focusing on how our furnishings and decor are better for people and the planet, and to standardize the measures we hold ourselves to for our products and operations,” McGarvey said.
As sustainability’s role in the retail industry is ever-evolving, McGarvey will navigate complex issues and further solidify corporate values.