Melissa Mark-Viverito Names Transition Team

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Melissa Mark-Viverito. (Photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)
Melissa Mark-Viverito. (Photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)

Melissa Mark-Viverito is staffing up.

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After naming several top-level aides earlier this week, the new City Council speaker is set to roll out her official transition team, “which will help her build an experienced and progressive team as she begins her term as Speaker,” her office said.

The 33-member volunteer committee will be headed by former Councilwoman Una Clarke, the mother of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and one of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s earliest political allies in last year’s election, as well as Rossana Rosado, the former editor of El Diario.

The members, which will help Ms. Mark-Viverito staff the council’s operations, include three former borough presidents, Brooklyn’s Marty Markowitz, Queens’ Helen Marshall and Manhattan’s C. Virginia Fields, union leaders who organized on behalf of Ms. Mark Viverito’s candidacy, like SEIU 1199’s political director Kevin Finnegan, and attorney Frank Carone, the one-time law partner of Frank Seddio, the Brooklyn Democratic boss who helped cut the backroom deal propelling Ms. Mark-Viverito to victory. Also on the list is Allen Roskoff, a Democratic LGBT club leader who was one of the leading antagonists of the previous speaker, Christine Quinn.

In a statement, Ms. Mark-Viverito praised the diversity and experience of the group.

“This committee will have a very simple goal, to help build a professional and experienced team that will reflect New York City and its values. It is an honor to have such a broad and diverse group of New Yorkers come together and I am looking forward to working with them in the weeks ahead,” she said.

View the full list below:

Co-Chairs

Dr. Una Clarke, Co-Chair – Former NYC Council Member, 40th District, Brooklyn

Rossana Rosado, Co-Chair – Former Editor, El Diario

Committee Members 

Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza – Dir., Health Programs, Coalition for Asian American Children & Families

Cira Angeles – President, LA Riverside Brokerage, Inc.

Ana Maria Archila – Co-Executive Director, Center for Popular Democracy

Don Mario Bosco – Counsel, Bosco, Ward & Nopar

Jose Calderon – President, Hispanic Federation

John Calvelli – Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Bronx Zoo

Frank Carone – Partner, Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Wolf, LLP

Daniel Cassella – President, ATU Local 726

Humberto Cruz – Former Director, AIDS Institute of the New York State Department of Health

Francisco Diaz, Jr. – President, Los Higos Del Barrio HDFC

Soraya Elcock – Former Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Harlem United

C. Virginia Fields – President & CEO, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS

Kevin Finnegan – Political Director, SEIU 1199

Jennifer Hensley – Executive Director, Association for a Better New York

Jacqueline Huey – Former. Sr. Director of Revenue and Management, NYC HHC

Virginia Kee – Founding member, Chinese American Planning Council

Victor Kovner, Esq.  – Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer – Executive Director, Queens Council of the Arts

Jenny Low – District Leader, 65th Assembly District

Marty Markowitz – Former Brooklyn Borough President

Devin Maroney – Deputy Political Director, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council

Helen Marshall – Former Queens Borough President

Shahana Masum – Director, Bangladeshi American Advocacy Group

Brette McSweeney – Executive Director, Eleanor’s Legacy

Suki Terada Ports – Former Executive Director, Family Health Project

Félix V. Matos Rodriguez – President, Hostos Community College

Allen Roskoff – LGBT Community Activist

Natalia Salgado – Deputy Political Director, 32BJ SEIU

Melissa Sklarz – Director, New York Trans Rights Coalition

Udai Tambar – Director, South Asian Youth Action

Javier Valdes – Co-Executive Director, Make the Road, NY

*Affiliations and titles for identification purposes only

Melissa Mark-Viverito Names Transition Team