The second-most powerful man in city government oversees more than 300,000 employees and a $115 billion budget using an iPhone outfitted with a tiny keyboard.
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro keeps a trove of memorabilia inside his stately City Hall office. There’s a baseball bat bearing the name of his former boss, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, court sketches from his days as a federal prosecutor taking on the mob and a framed photograph of the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivering a sermon. One thing, however, is conspicuously absent: a computer. Instead, the second-most powerful man in city government oversees more than 300,000 employees and a $115 billion budget using an iPhone outfitted with a tiny keyboard resembling his smartphone of choice. “I was the last living human apparently using a Blackberry,” Mastro said, with a laugh, during an interview. “I’m old school. And that’s the way I like it.” Mastro, who was appointed in late March, has taken firm control of critical pieces of the mayor’s agenda: pushing for the return of, delaying the destruction of a public garden on the Lower East Side popular among celebrities to make way for low-income housing for seniors, sparing small landlordsLess than a year after the City Council rejected Mastro as corporation counsel in a humiliating, 11-hour hearing, the bulldog attorney is atop City Hall and appears to be having the time of his life. It marks an unexpected turn in Mastro’s long career from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, to chief of staff in Giuliani’s administration, to a top white shoe attorney in the city. “This is not the role I expected to return to in city government,” admitted Mastro, 68. “But this is apparently the role in which I am needed to return to city government.” Those familiar with the inner workings of City Hall say Mastro has been effective getting the wheels of government turning again after an exodus of top administration officials amid Adams’ now-dismissed corruption case and courtship of the Trump administration. Mastro is Adams’ fourth first deputy mayor – and arguably the most powerful one in recent memory.“He’s a problem solver,” said City Councilmember Gale Brewer, who has known Mastro for decades. “You can agree or disagree with the outcome but he wants to solve problems.“ Even Mastro’s critics tip their caps. Councilmember Justin Brannan, who will negotiate with Mastro over the budget as finance committee chair, referred to him as Adams’ “brilliant hatchet man.” Mastro has taken control of the budget process, framing spending choices on housing and education as central to Adams’ legacy. Inside the mayor’s wing at City Hall, Mastro has brought enthusiasm to an administration where aides and staffers often appear tense. “Always remember, hold your heads high. Know that what you do matters,” he told top staffers in a recent speech, according to a video obtained by Gothamist. “Let’s make this next eight months the most productive time ever in city government.”The irony is that this was never the job Mastro envisioned. “I expected to return as a lawyer, but that didn't work out,” he said. His reputation as an aggressive attorney for moneyed interests and loyal enforcer for Giuliani sank his chances last summer of winning City Council approval to secure his dream of being the city’s corporation counsel. Many members saw him as someone who had defended the indefensible, which included former New Jersey Gov. “It’s widely acknowledged that the sitting mayor is beholden to Donald Trump, who actively undermines the interests of New Yorkers on a daily basis,” the Council’s progressive caucus said in a statement after Adams hired Mastro as deputy mayor. “So it’s only fitting that he would select a right-hand man who’s spent his career suing our city and serving Republican and special interest employers.” A portrait of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia by the door to Mastro’s office hints at his clout and ambition. Mastro said he had persuaded Adams to let him replace a portrait of George McClellan Jr., a mayor elected at the turn of the 20th century known for being the son of a Civil War general who had challenged Abraham Lincoln. “I thought, why should we have the son of the general who tried to kick Lincoln out of office?” Mastro said. “Why don't we have one of the greatest mayors in New York City history?”Mastro, who's working for a scandal-scarred mayor in what could be his final year, holds an unusual amount of leverage. He has drawn suspicion over whether some of his decisions — like granting a reprieve to the— are at the behest of his wealthy friends and clients. The fact that Mastro didn’t have to completely quit his day job to become first deputy mayor reinforces that perception. In March, the mayor’s office said the City Conflicts of Interest Board had cleared Mastro to continue representing Madison Square Garden's owner James Dolan in an ongoing lawsuit brought by New York Knicks legend Charles Oakley. Mastro has said he is working pro bono and would recuse himself from any matters in City Hall related to Dolan or the Garden.Asked last week, Mastro said no, but added, “I may have to go to future games.” On Monday, he appeared to have changed his mind and said he would be rooting for the team from home. "He's come in like a tornado in a lot of ways," one City Hall official said of Mastro, giving him credit for all he's accomplished in just two months. The official, who asked not to be named because they're not authorized to speak to the press, doubted that Adams gave the same power to his previous deputy mayors, who were all women. Before Mastro’s appointment, the official was often frustrated by a sense of inertia on key initiatives.Asked about that claim at a press conference on Tuesday, Adams denied that he trusted Mastro any more than his predecessors.Still, the mayor complimented his new first deputy. Wearing a Knicks hat, he likened Mastro’s previous experience in City Hall to players who understand the rigors of the playoffs.Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? EmailBecause those hands got the Knicks into the Eastern Conference Finals, here are your afternoon links: The Golden Dome, Tom Hanks coming to the Shed, cheaper but still expensive sushi and more.Justice Department investigating Cuomo over congressional testimony on COVID, reports sayGothamist is a website about New York City news, arts, events and food, brought to you by New York Public Radio.
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