Mayor Adams Announces Affordable Housing Leadership Team

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the team who will lead his administration’s affordable housing strategy. Jessica Katz will lead the team as the city’s chief housing officer. Adolfo Carrión Jr. will serve as commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Eric Enderlin will continue serving as the president of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

During the announcement, the mayor reiterated his support for several measures that will help the city build housing and reduce costs, including:

• Upzoning areas with robust infrastructure and around major transit hubs, as well as creating new housing supply around the five boroughs;

• Legalizing basement apartment dwellings, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and other small units; and

• Converting underused hotels and office buildings into affordable housing.

Mayor Adams’ full list of appointees is below:

Jessica Katz, Chief Housing Officer

Jessica Katz will serve as chief housing officer, overseeing the city’s housing agencies and affordable housing strategy. Her portfolio will include HPD, HDC, NYCHA, the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations (HRO), and the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT). She will report to First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo.

Katz was most recently the executive director of the Citizens Housing & Planning Council (CHPC), an 80-year-old research and advocacy organization focused on housing and planning issues in New York City. At CHPC, she led a policy and research agenda that included projects, such as basements apartment conversions, a New Lens for NYC’s Housing Plan, Resident Decision-Making at NYCHA, Equitable Code Enforcement, and many other initiatives.

Before CHPC, Katz was with HPD, where she most recently served as the associate commissioner for New Construction. In that role, she oversaw the creation of affordable and special needs housing. She has held a variety of roles at HPD, including as assistant commissioner of Special Needs Housing, senior advisor to the commissioner, and assistant commissioner for Preservation Finance. Katz began her career with HPD in 2003 and started as the production manager for Special Needs Housing, gaining in-depth experience in the creation of housing for seniors and New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. She left HPD in 2009 to become the executive director of Lantern Group, a not-for-profit that operates social service programs across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, as well as 1,000 units of permanent supportive housing.

Adolfo Carrión Jr., Commissioner, Department of Housing Preservation and Development

Adolfo Carrión Jr. is the CEO and founder of Metro Futures LLC, a real estate development and consulting firm, whose focus is the development of affordable housing, mixed-use and economic development projects, and strategic planning in the New York City Metro Area.

Carrión has spent his professional career working to build and improve historically marginalized communities in the Bronx, in other areas of New York City, and around the country. Before starting Metro Futures, Carrión served as regional administrator for Region II of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, deputy assistant to President Barack Obama, and director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs. Carrión’s work resulted in the establishment of a White House Urban Policy Working Group and the first interagency review in 30 years of federal government policy and funding in U.S. urban and metropolitan areas. Prior to his tenure in the federal government, Carrión served as Bronx Borough President and as a member of the New York City Council.

Eric Enderlin, President, Housing Development Corporation

Eric Enderlin has served as president of HDC since October 2016. In this role, Enderlin is tasked with leading the nation’s largest municipal Housing Finance Agency to help ensure a fairer and more equitable city through the creation and preservation of affordable housing. He also recently led HDC through an expansion of its mission to now serve as the key financing partner in efforts to rehabilitate New York City’s public housing stock, while guaranteeing affordability and resident protections.

Enderlin brings more than 20 years of experience in public policy and affordable housing to HDC. He most recently served as deputy commissioner for Development and special advisor at HPD. Prior to joining HPD, he was assistant director for Asset Management and Private Market Operations at NYCHA, worked as a consultant with the Louis Berger Group in its Economics Department, and served as principal planner and land use mediator with the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (NJ COAH).

City Hall Rotunda

Manhattan

January 30, 2022