You are reading

Former Republican Council Member Eric Ulrich Joins Mayor Adams’ Administration

Former Council Member Eric Ulrich is taking a job in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration (NYC Council/ Emil Cohen)

Jan. 5, 2022 By Allie Griffin

Former Queens Council Member Eric Ulrich has joined Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as a mayoral advisor, Adams announced Wednesday.

Ulrich — a Republican who represented District 32 in southwest Queens up until the end of 2021 — has been tapped as a senior advisor to the mayor.

He is one of two general advisors Adams named in a list of new staff members that includes chiefs of staff, commissioners and directors.

Ulrich represented the neighborhoods of Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Howard Beach, Lindenwood, Neponsit, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Rockaway Park, Roxbury, South Ozone Park, West Hamilton Beach and Woodhaven for 12 years on the City Council.

He was succeeded by Republican Joann Ariola, who now represents District 32.

In his announcement, Adams noted Ulrich’s instrumental role in passing legislation that established the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services as well as his relief efforts for constituents following Hurricane Sandy.

Ulrich is not the first Queens resident to take on an important role in the Adams administration.

Last month, Adams appointed Astoria native Lorraine Grillo as first deputy mayor. She is Adams’ second in command and oversees an all-women team of four additional deputy mayors.

Prior to joining Adams’ team, Grillo was named “recovery czar” by former Mayor Bill de Blasio to help the city come back from the pandemic. Before that, she served as CEO of the School Construction Authority for more than a decade.

Adams also appointed two Queens-raised leaders to the roles of the NYPD Commissioner and Schools Chancellor.

He named Keechant Sewell, former Nassau County chief of detectives, as police commissioner and David Banks, who founded a network of public schools for boys, as schools chancellor.

Sewell was born and raised in the Queensbridge Houses — the largest public housing development in the nation — in Long Island City. She later moved to Corona and then Jamaica as a child.

Banks, meanwhile, spent much of his youth in southeast Queens and Adams himself grew up in South Jamaica.

Adams said his new team members are experienced and ready to hit the ground running.

“This team has the experience, knowledge, and skill to take our government — and our city — to new heights,” he said in a statement. “Our motto is Get Stuff Done — and we are already off to a flying start.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Dead body of adult woman pulled from the freezing waters off Rockaway Park Friday morning: NYPD

First responders pulled the body of a woman from the frigid waters off Rockaway Park on Friday morning, and investigators are working to determine how she died.

Police from the 100th Precinct in Rockaway Beach responded to a 911 call at 8:44 a.m. reporting a person in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Beach 109th Street and Shore Front Parkway, where the body of an adult woman was recovered from the surf, unconscious and unresponsive.

Holden calls out Mayor Adams—will he reopen ICE office on Rikers Island and tackle migrant crime?

One day after Mayor Eric Adams expressed his willingness to collaborate with the incoming Trump administration on addressing the migrant crisis and signaled a readiness to meet with former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) head Tom Homan, Council Member Robert Holden called on the mayor to reopen the ICE office on Rikers Island.

Holden, who represents District 30 in Queens, which encompasses Maspeth, Middle Village, and parts of Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, and Rego Park, has been advocating for changes to the city’s sanctuary policies since July. In a letter, he previously urged the mayor to roll back laws that restrict local law enforcement agencies—including the NYPD, Department of Correction, and Department of Probation—from cooperating with ICE.

Hall of Famer Lou Carnesecca, legendary St. John’s basketball coach, dies at 99

The St. John’s University community will gather to mourn legendary basketball coach Lou Carnesecca on the Hillcrest campus he loved with all of his heart Friday morning for his Funeral Mass at St. Thomas More Church, where he will be remembered not just for building a dynamic program, but for the way he did it. The beloved coach died peacefully surrounded by family and friends on Saturday, Nov. 30, at age 99 and just five weeks shy of his 100th birthday.

“Throughout his long life, Coach Carnesecca represented St. John’s with savvy, humility, smarts, tenacity, wit, integrity and grace,” SJU President Rev. Brian Shanley said. “He was the public face of our University, and he embodied the values of our Catholic and Vincentian mission. We thank God for his legacy.”