Mamdani taps Staten Island native as next NYC budget director

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island native who has served in a variety of state and city government positions has been named as New York City’s next budget director.

On Thursday, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced that Sherif Soliman, a former Staten Islander who grew up in New Springville and graduated from Port Richmond High School, will serve as director of the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget for the incoming administration.

“A successful administration must have a budget that reflects the needs of working New Yorkers. Sherif Soliman is a skilled negotiator and dedicated public servant whose leadership of the Office of Management and Budget will ensure our administration fulfills our affordability agenda,” said Mamdani.

A nearly 30-year veteran of public service, Soliman comes from a family of first-generation immigrants who settled in New York almost 50 years ago after emigrating from Egypt.

During his time on Staten Island, Soliman was chief of staff to former Assemblyman Eric Vitaliano. He was later tapped to lead the New York State Legislative Affairs team and had roles that included serving as director of communications at the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and chief of staff for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Operations.

He was later appointed as Department of Finance Commissioner at the end of 2020 by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and then served as the director of Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Policy and Planning.

Most recently, Soliman served as senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer with the City University of New York, during that time reducing the structural deficit at CUNY by 77% and securing hundreds of millions of dollars for CUNY labor contracts in the state budget.

Soliman also sits on the MTA Board, to which he was nominated by Mayor Adams in May 2022.

“I am humbled by the trust Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has placed in me to take on this important role and work alongside the team to deliver on the affordability agenda. Budgets reflect the values of an administration — they are about innovation and excellence in government. I look forward to the work ahead in building a budget that delivers real wins for working New Yorkers,” said Soliman.