De Blasio Names Long-Sought Sustainability Director

The de Blasio administration has concluded its search for a director of the city's sustainability efforts, a position vacant since February when a Bloomberg-era appointee left. Along the way, City Hall is restructuring the way environmental planning is conducted.

The mayor on Thursday named Nilda Mesa, a former Columbia University administrator who worked at the Clinton White House, as the head of the new Office of Sustainability. The agency will combine a low-profile agency that Mesa was hired to lead just 10 weeks ago with some of the duties of a higher profile office that had overseen PlaNYC, an initiative set up under former Mayor Mike Bloomberg to emphasize environmental measures across the city's sprawling bureaucracy.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had planned to make the announcement in person at City Hall on Wednesday, but called the event off after news broke that Staten Island grand jury had cleared a police officer in the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner.

Since earlier this fall, Mesa had been running the Office of Environmental Coordination, which administers the city's green buildings law. The mayor's office said consolidating that agency with the Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability would allow the city to integrate its policies and "ensure better performance measures."

But while the head of the long-term planning office had, under Bloomberg, been solely in charge of PlaNYC, that duty will now be shared with Dan Zarrilli, the head of the Office of Recovery and Resiliency, an agency in charge of post-Sandy planning. Both Zarrilli and Mesa will report to Bill Goldstein, a senior advisor to the mayor for recovery, resiliency and infrastructure.

The sustainability position was the last high-profile one to be filled by the de Blasio administration, and some environmentalists saw the administration's delay in filling it as a sign that the mayor was not making sustainability a top priority. The administration, however, has denied that, pointing to the proposal unveiled in September to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. Bringing that initiative to life will be a big part of Mesa's job.

In the news release announcing the appointment, Pat Sapinsley, co-chair of the Committee on the Environment at the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, praised Mesa.

"Her warm, engaging and inclusive manner positions her well to meet the demands of the job," Sapinsley said. "As a coalition builder and a good listener, she will be able to bring many disparate groups together."

UPDATED 12:20 p.m. Dec. 4 to reflect official announcement.