Photo: Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced three key appointments across city agencies on Wednesday (April 22).
The first of these was Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, a Black, lesbian librarian who will serve as commissioner of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS), according to The Advocate.
Smith-Cruz has worked for nearly 20 years as a librarian and archivist, most recently as Dean of the Barnard College Library. Her work includes curating exhibitions for the Salsa Soul Sisters, the city’s first lesbian-of-color organization, and expanding access to information for incarcerated people.
She has also served on the board of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) and held several leadership roles at various universities and libraries, including New York University, the CUNY Graduate Center, Brooklyn Public Library, and StoryCorps.
She co-founded the nonprofit Sister Outsider at age 17, which aims to support young women in East Flatbush and Brownsville by providing paid, living wages and peer education within a harm-reduction framework.
“It is an absolute honor to be called to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) under Mayor Mamdani's administration, which feels to be a moment in NYC political history of great importance and collective endeavor," Smith-Cruz said in a statement. "Providing access to government records, documents and data is our municipal responsibility. Embracing and preserving a comprehensive imprint of NYC histories, as representative of our many communities, is the mission of DORIS that I aim to uphold.”
Among the additional appointments made on Wednesday were Paul Ochoa as Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and Annie Levers as Director of the Mayor's Office of Operations.
Ochoa has previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at the Department of Sanitation and Director of City Legislative Affairs in the Mayor's Office. His most recent position was Executive Deputy Commissioner in 2022, where he oversaw several administrative divisions, including a $1.5 billion expense budget and a $34 billion 10-year capital plan.
Annie Levers previously served as co-chair of the City's Joint Task Force to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time, helping to reduce contract delays and improve payment practices for city workers. She most recently served as Deputy Comptroller for Policy at the New York City Comptroller's Office and has more than a decade of experience in public policy service operations across the city.
“These are leaders who believe government must deliver in service of the public good," Mayor Mamdani said in a statement following the appointments. "They understand how to pull the levers of government to deliver for New Yorkers and reflect the histories and aspirations of our neighborhoods in the city we are building together.
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