Mamdani names Lisa Scott-McKenzie aging commissioner

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Lisa Scott-McKenzie, a longtime employee of the city’s public hospital system, to serve as commissioner of the Department for the Aging, tapping her to oversee the city’s efforts to support the city’s oldest residents. 

Scott-McKenzie most recently served as chief operating officer at New York City Health + Hospitals/Woodhull where she oversaw construction projects and led a bevy of divisions across the North Brooklyn hospital including facilities management, emergency management, social work services, community affairs and hospital police. She has worked at the New York City Health + Hospitals system for four decades, starting her career in 1986 as a stenographic secretarial associate in radiology, according to a biography shared by the Mamdani administration. Scott-McKenzie also has extensive experience as a certified emergency manager, serving as an incident commander for Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the 2003 Northeastern Blackout. 

She’s the latest Black official Mamdani has tapped for his cabinet after facing backlash for not appointing a single Black deputy mayor. News of Scott-McKenzie’s appointment was shared exclusively with City & State ahead of a planned Tuesday announcement. 

She’ll replace longtime agency leader Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez at the helm of DFTA. Once the secretary of state of New York, Cortés-Vázquez was appointed aging commissioner by former Mayor Bill de Blasio and stayed on for the entirety of the Adams administration. The agency partners with a number of community-based organizations to provide services to older New Yorkers – in large part to ensure they are able to continue living in their homes and have a sound quality of life. 

“I have known Dr. Scott-McKenzie for almost two decades and worked alongside her at H+H/Woodhull where I witnessed first hand how she treated those most vulnerable among us,” City Council Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman said in a statement. “She is smart, warm and kind.  I know our city’s older adults (of which I am one) will be in good hands under her leadership.”

Scott-McKenzie, who has a doctorate of health administration from Capella University, is joining the Mamdani administration at a pivotal time for aging New Yorkers. The city’s population of older adults is growing fast and becoming increasingly diverse. Projections show that by 2030, the number of New Yorkers aged 60 and older will make up between 19 and 25% of each borough’s population, underscoring the need to ensure there are strong systems in place to support them, such as caregivers.

Remaining in an increasingly expensive city is a big problem for the older New Yorkers. Over 61% of New Yorkers 65 and over are rent-burdened, meaning they spent over 30% of their income on rent, according to a recent report from the comptroller’s office. This is a population that’s heavily impacted by the city’s affordability crisis. About 18% of older adults live below 100% of the Federal Poverty Line, and 26% receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program benefits. Federal funding cuts have only heightened challenges.