The City Council signed off Thursday on Mayor Mamdani’s pick to lead the city’s Department of Investigation, an olive branch of sorts amid escalating tension between the mayor and Council Speaker Julie Menin.
After Mamdani tapped Nadia Shihata, a former federal prosecutor, to serve as the city’s chief investigative watchdog, she faced a grilling from councilmembers, mostly allies of Menin, who questioned whether she could be impartial in the role given past donations to Mamdani’s campaign and a longstanding social relationship with a top mayoral official.
Mamdani and Menin, who are opposed on many key issues, have been locked in an escalating feud as they work out how to balance the city’s budget. The nomination represents somewhat of an olive branch from the speaker to the mayor.
In the end, Shihata’s nomination passed by a large majority, with 40 voting for her and nine voting against.
“After careful review, Speaker Menin is supporting Nadia Shihata’s nomination based on her qualifications and her stated commitment to independent leadership,” Yoav Gonen, a spokesperson for Menin, said in a statement ahead of the vote.
“Rooting out corruption and fraud in government is a top priority for the speaker and she believes Ms. Shihata’s 11 years as a prosecutor in New York’s Eastern District makes her well positioned to take on that fight head on.”
Shihata worked for 11 years as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where she served as deputy chief of the public integrity section — a role with some overlap to the work of DOI commissioner — as well as one of the lead prosecutors of singer R. Kelly.
Shihata thanked the mayor and the City Council for its “thorough questioning” in a statement after the vote.
“As a former federal prosecutor and an attorney who has dedicated my legal career to ensuring public safety, as well as protecting civil rights and those most vulnerable in our community, it is a privilege to lead an agency that stands for independent and rigorous government oversight and fairness for all,” she said.
At a hearing on her nomination on April 6, councilmembers pressed Shihata on the about $700 in donations she made to the mayor’s campaign — and she admitted she’d canvassed for Mamdani once during last year’s race. Members of the committee also questioned Shihata about her longstanding friendship with Ramzi Kassem, the mayor’s general counsel.
Despite the councilmembers’ concerns, good government groups backed Shihata’s appointment.
Reinvent Albany said in a statement they were “encouraged” by Shihata saying she would not share information about DOI investigations with the mayor’s office and would advocate for more funding for the short-staffed agency.
Citizens Union Executive Director Grace Rauh said that Shihata’s ties to the administration were not out of the ordinary and that her “professional background indicates that she is qualified for this position.”
“If we are truly to turn the page on the ethical misconduct of the previous administration, both the administration and the Council must pair real investment in the Department of Investigation with tangible, concrete reforms related to conflicts of interest, lobbying regulation, and campaign finance,” Rauh said in a statement.