A term-limited Williamsburg councilwoman is staying in politics, making the seamless transition into the position of deputy to brand-new Borough President Adams.
Adams announced his choice of 34th District three-termer Diana Reyna on Tuesday, saying that her commitment to social justice issues made her an obvious choice.
“Diana Reyna has spent her entire career focused in the issues that matter the most to everyday New Yorkers,” Adams said, pointing to her record on affordable housing, public schools, and small businesses.
Reyna recently fought to secure 293 units of below-market-rate housing for Bushwick’s Rheingold Brewery development and successfully restored funding to programs at the embattled Swinging Sixties Center in Williamsburg after the city pulled the plug. The career pol said she will bring that same progressive pluck to her new position at Adams’s side.
“I look forward to helping Team Adams achieve its goal of One Brooklyn, a borough that leaves no one behind and works together toward common goals,” she said.
The Borough President’s office does not have much power beyond a podium, the ability to make community board and city agency appointments, and a dwindling pool of discretionary funds, so Reyna will spend most of her time setting up events to connect Brooklynites with services they need, said Adams’ transition spokesman Evan Thies.
“The borough president and deputy president do not need massive resources to put these people in a room and organize around a common goal,” said Thies.
Reyna will replace now-former Beep Marty Markowitz’s low-profile right-hand woman Sandra Chapman. In Williamsburg, her former top aide Antonio Reynoso beat out disgraced former Assemblyman Vito Lopez for her seat.
