Mayor-elect Mike Bloomberg yesterday made three key appointments to his inner circle, including a surprise choice for deputy mayor – New York Urban League head Dennis Walcott.
“Dennis is the right guy to . . . make sure we understand who we’re here to serve and that nobody gets left out in this city,” Bloomberg said.
In choosing Walcott, Bloomberg tapped a black leader known as a moderate and pragmatic voice in his 12 years as president of the league.
Walcott occasionally came under fire for his working – if not warm – relationship with Mayor Giuliani and former Police Commissioner Howard Safir.
“I think it’s a great move on [Bloomberg’s] part,” said veteran Harlem Councilman Bill Perkins, an African-American who has sometimes been critical of Giuliani.
“It’s not just a black face for the sake of a black face. It has some symbolic value and [Walcott] is also a person of substance . . . people of this city are going to get bang for their buck,” Perkins said.
In addition to Walcott, who will draw up policy for Bloomberg, the incoming mayor picked two government veterans for top slots.
Budget wiz Marc Shaw, the executive director of the MTA and a former budget director for the City Council and Giuliani, was appointed deputy mayor for operations.
And trusted Bloomberg aide Patricia Harris, who ran the Art Commission under former Mayor Ed Koch and was one of Bloomberg’s closest advisers at his media company, was appointed deputy mayor for administration.
Harris will oversee cultural affairs and parks and is expected to wield considerable clout because of her close ties to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, whose only other staff appointments have been Ray Kelly for police commissioner and Ed Skyler as press secretary, said he plans to name one more deputy mayor soon.
Bloomberg, who becomes mayor on Jan. 1, also said he’d lobby for a change in the City Charter to move future inaugurations to Jan. 20 or even Feb. 1 to give mayors-elect more time to plan.