EARL ANDREWS, JR. IS SWORN IN AS COMMISSIONER OF BUSINESS SERVICES BY MAYOR GIULIANI
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today administered the oath of office to Earl Andrews, Jr. as the Commissioner of the Department of Business Services at a formal City Hall swearing in ceremony. Commissioner Andrews has served as the Commissioner of Business Services since June 25,1996 when the Mayor named him to succeed Rudy Washington, who is now Deputy Mayor for Community Development and Business Services.
Also in attendance at the swearing in ceremony were Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington, Commissioner Andrews' mother, Lillie Andrews, and his aunt, Maime Johnson. The Rev. D. Darrell Griffin gave the invocation.
"Although we are just now having the official swearing in, Earl was actually appointed to lead Business Services on June 25th of last year and has since built an outstanding reputation as a manager who gets things done," Mayor Giuliani said. "He has continued much of the excellent work that was begun under Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington, including efforts to work closely with existing Business Improvement Districts and expand the program into other communities as well as introducing other business friendly initiatives throughout the City. Earl also continues to help implement the City's plan to revitalize business in Harlem, breathing new economic life into the 125th Street business corridor, restoring the City-owned Garage and Mart 125, and developing plans for a mixed use housing and retail complex on 116th Street.
"The Department of Business Services is vital to my administration and to the City of New York because the agency is charged with the important task of helping our small and mid-sized businesses to grow and prosper," the Mayor added. "I have made job growth a top priority in my administration and I understand how vital small and mid-sized businesses are to our job base. Earl has already demonstrated a combination of private and public sector expertise that will expand that important job base. And his long and distinguished career in finance and banking is an invaluable asset."
With a staff of 168 employees and a $22.5 million budget, the Department of Business Services provides assistance and support to attract and retain small and mid-sized businesses throughout the City, promotes a positive economic climate, helps to create jobs and strengthens the City's tax and job base.
A native New Yorker, Commissioner Andrews was born in the South Jamaica community in Queens and educated in the New York City school system. A graduate of Atlanta's Morehouse College, he was a principal and a Managing Director of WR Lazard, Laidlaw & Mead, a company he helped start and develop into one of the major minority-owned broker/dealers in the country.
Commissioner Andrews entered the investment banking business in 1971 with the firm of Shearson Hamill and later helped to found First Harlem Securities Corporation, the first minority-owned member of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, he has also served as Manager and Vice-President in the investment banks of First Boston and Bear Stearns.
After a brief stint as Chairman of the Off-Track Betting Corporation from April 1993 to August 1993, Commissioner Andrews became President of the New York City Tax Commission, where he served for almost three years. His responsibilities included ruling on applications to review and correct real property tax assessments made by the Department of Finance, as well as making determinations on applications for exemptions.
Commissioner Andrews currently resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He served as a member of the Carnegie Council Fact Finding Survey of Conditions in South Africa in 1989, and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Aaron Davis Hall and the Morehouse Alumni Association.
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