Ex-Cuomo admin official picked as Mayor Adams’ new deputy for strategic initiatives: source

A onetime official in ex-Gov. Cuomo’s administration is expected to be appointed Friday as one of Mayor Adams’ top deputies, according to a city government source familiar with the matter.

Ana Almanzar, who served as chief of staff in Cuomo’s state nonprofit unit between 2014 and 2020, is expected to become Adams’ deputy mayor of strategic initiatives, the source told the Daily News, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of an appointment press conference set for Friday morning.

A spokesman for Adams did not immediately return a request for comment, and neither did Almanzar.

The strategic initiatives post has sat empty since January, when Sheena Wright, who used to hold that job, was elevated to become Adams’ first deputy mayor.

After leaving the Cuomo administration, Almanzar took a job as the director of community relations for the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, which provides funding for health care initiatives in low-income communities.

Unlike other deputy mayor posts, the strategic initiatives job doesn’t typically come with a portfolio of agencies to oversee.

When she held the role, Wright was tapped with devising a strategy for clearing a backlog of childcare vouchers and co-led a task force on gun violence prevention efforts, among other tasks.

This story will be updated.