Marcella Tillett, executive director of Mayor Eric Adams’ New York City Development Fund, abruptly resigned after nearly 16 months in office, The Post has learned.
This nonprofit organization brings in millions of dollars in contributions from Wall Street, developers, lobbyists, nonprofits, and other private and government sources to fund city initiatives supported by the mayor. It is a means of raising funds.
Mr. Adams announced his tillet appointment — He previously served as the top executive of the Brooklyn Community Foundation when the mayor was Brooklyn Borough President — in October 2022.
“People were surprised by Marcela’s departure. No one expected it,” said a source close to the Mayor’s Fund.
Tillett declined requests for comment by phone and email Tuesday. She did not physically attend the Mayor’s Fund’s last board meeting held on February 2nd.
The Mayor’s Fund is working with City Hall and Wole Coaxam and his Mobility Capital Finance company, the company that won the controversial no-bid city contract to provide taxpayer-funded prepaid cash cards to immigrants. He was working on a separate partnership with the company. A program to help poor New Yorkers.
City Hall said Mr. Tillett was leaving for “personal reasons” and insisted it had nothing to do with friction with Mr. Adams or his leadership team over Mayor’s Fund projects.
“Over the past 16 months, New Yorkers have benefited from Marcella Tillett’s expertise and dedication in her leadership of the New York City Development Fund,” said Kayla Mamerak, the mayor’s spokesperson.
“We are grateful for her contributions to our city and grateful that she has offered to stay with us over the next few weeks to ensure a smooth transition. .”
A new executive director has not yet been named.
The Mayor’s Fund, which provides grants for the city’s new programs, had about $15 million on hand in 2022, when the city was struggling, according to financial reports filed with the IRS and the state Attorney General’s Charities Office. That’s down from $27 million in 2020. Due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
“The Fund works closely with New York City’s many agencies to support and strengthen innovative public programs that serve the city’s residents. Each initiative undertaken by the Mayor’s Fund is unique. The department’s initiatives are one-year pilot programs, while other initiatives are multi-year projects,” the company’s treasurer, EPFR Group, said in a report filed last year.
“To achieve its goals, the Fund relies on the generosity of individuals, foundations and businesses, who make our city a safer, healthier, more vibrant and dynamic place to live and work. “It plays an important role in this,” the report says. .
Adams has funded several initiatives since taking office in 2022.
In the wake of the deadly Twin Parks fire in the Bronx on January 9, 2022, Mr. Adams used the Mayor’s Fund to raise $4.4 million to support fire victims. The foundation allocated $3 million in cash assistance to fire victims and $1 million to community organization Bronx Works to assist evacuated residents.
A $1.5 million donation from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer was distributed through the Mayor’s Fund to provide science, technology, engineering and math programs to students in public middle and high schools.
The Mayor’s Fund also supports programs for residents in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic and provides gift cards to victims of domestic violence, among other programs dating back to former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s time. and provides grants to support soccer programs in underserved areas.
Mr. de Blasio’s wife, then-first lady Charlaine McCray, chaired the Mayor’s Fund while he was mayor.
