John Gallagher, who served as first deputy press secretary for Mayor Bloomberg until he quit in early June, is moving into the real-estate and development business, taking a newly created job with the title Director/Vice President of Public Affairs for Tishman Construction.
Mr. Gallagher’s not a stranger to the development world; his City Hall job included work on economic development, PlaNYC and the city budget. He starts his gig at Tishman early next month, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The move comes as the city is tightening its oversight of the construction industry, an industry where Tishman is a giant, responsible for building the Freedom Tower, the new Goldman Sachs headquarters and the Bank of America tower near Bryant Park. Tishman—a separate company from megalandlord Tishman Speyer—also has a development arm, and has plans for a hotel on Eighth Avenue and 44th Street that needs some city approvals.
Mr. Gallagher, who came to City Hall in 2006, worked previously at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, on Jeanine Pirro’s campaign for attorney general, for the Senate Republicans and for the Assembly Republicans.
