Our Bureau
New York, NY
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani on Friday announced a series of senior leadership appointments across New York City’s social services and housing agencies, naming Erin Dalton as commissioner of the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Sideya Sherman as chair of the City Planning Commission and director of the Department of City Planning (DCP).
The mayor also reappointed Eric Enderlin as president of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Edith Hsu-Chen as executive director of DCP, moves City Hall said are aimed at advancing an affordability and community safety agenda.
“New Yorkers deserve leaders who listen and act with urgency,” Mamdani said in announcing Dalton’s appointment. He described her as a public servant who has “expanded access to housing, strengthened social services and protected our most vulnerable neighbors,” adding that he looked forward to working with her “to build a city that is more just, effective and accessible for all.”
Dalton most recently served as director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services in Pennsylvania, where she led what officials described as one of the nation’s most integrated human services systems. Under her tenure, the department built a coordinated winter shelter network that reduced the number of people living outdoors by nearly 98 percent. The county also reported a nearly 20 percent decline in violent crime and an almost 10 percent drop in incarceration rates during her time in office.
In New York City, DSS oversees the Human Resources Administration — the nation’s largest social services agency, serving more than three million low-income and vulnerable residents annually — and the Department of Homeless Services, which provides emergency shelter and works to transition families to permanent housing.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of New York City and to advance Mayor Mamdani’s affordability and community safety agenda,” Dalton said. “DSS can reduce the painful trade-offs families make between food and medicine, housing and safe childcare.” She added that the agency would work to deliver assistance “more efficiently and with greater dignity.”
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Helen Arteaga said Dalton’s experience “providing aid to vulnerable populations, while treating individuals with the dignity and respect they deserve,” positions her to meet the city’s current challenges.
Outside New York, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called Dalton’s departure “New York City’s gain,” citing her record of “innovative, data-driven, and compassionate solutions” in human services. David Hansell, senior advisor for child welfare policy at Casey Family Programs and former commissioner of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, credited Dalton with pioneering “ethical, data-informed approaches” to child protection and reducing racial disparities in decision-making.
Alongside the social services appointment, Mamdani named Sherman to lead the city’s planning apparatus at a time when housing affordability remains a central issue.
“Sideya Sherman understands that planning is not an abstract exercise – it is about whether working people can afford to live in the city they call home,” Mamdani said. He said she and Hsu-Chen would “move with urgency to deliver affordability, advance fair housing and build a city that works for everyday New Yorkers.”
Sherman most recently served as the city’s Chief Equity Officer and commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice. She previously led the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity and spent more than a decade at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Her background also includes roles at the Municipal Art Society and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, where she worked on community and economic development initiatives.
“It’s an honor to join the Mamdani administration and work to advance the mayor’s affordability agenda at DCP,” Sherman said. She described the current moment as “an exciting time for city planning, with a mandate to deliver a city that New Yorkers can afford.”
Hsu-Chen, who has served as DCP’s executive director since 2022 after beginning her career there as an intern in 1997, said she looked forward to continuing the agency’s work delivering “affordable housing, good jobs, vibrant neighborhoods and a resilient city.”
At DCP, Sherman and Hsu-Chen will oversee long-term growth strategy, neighborhood planning, land use and zoning. The agency is expected to play a central role in advancing the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT) and Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development (SPEED) task forces, aimed at accelerating affordable housing development on public land. The department will also implement recent City Charter changes designed to deliver housing faster and more equitably.
The administration recently began public review of the first-ever Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for an affordable housing proposal in Mott Haven, the Bronx.
Enderlin, who has led HDC since 2016, will continue overseeing the nation’s largest municipal housing finance agency. Under his leadership, HDC has issued more than $2 billion in bonds annually and financed the creation and preservation of thousands of affordable homes each year.
“I am extremely proud to continue leading HDC as a part of the Mamdani administration,” Enderlin said, pledging to “redouble our work to help deliver a city that every New Yorker can afford.”
