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Mayor Adams Appoints Thomas Foley, P.E. as Design and Construction Commissioner

January 21, 2022

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the appointment of Thomas J. Foley, P.E. as commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC). Foley previously served as acting commissioner of the agency. A 25-year veteran of DDC, Foley will oversee the city’s capital construction projects, which include infrastructure and public buildings. He will be tasked with delivering on the mayor’s vision for promoting greater fiscal efficiency in capital construction and ensuring all projects are aligned with the city’s resiliency goals.

“Thomas Foley is an experienced professional who understands the infrastructure needs of our city on a granular level, and he has been a steady hand in moments of crisis,” said Mayor Adams. “We are proud to announce his appointment, and look forward to working with him to build safe, equitable, and resilient infrastructure that serves all New Yorkers.”

“Commissioner Foley brings keen expertise and awareness to our city’s critical construction projects, so that they meet the needs of all New Yorkers in all neighborhoods and withstand the test of time to serve our future generations,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi.

“I am extraordinarily honored to be chosen by Mayor Adams to serve as the head of DDC,” said incoming DDC Commissioner Thomas J. Foley. “DDC’s hundreds of construction professionals are uniquely capable of making the city’s infrastructure and public buildings reflect this administration’s agenda of public safety, equity, and prosperity for all. And we will continue to aggressively pursue the capital construction process improvements detailed in 2019 under former Commissioner Lorraine Grillo in order to meet the administration’s goals for fiscal efficiency. I’d like to thank the staff at DDC for making this possible.”

About Thomas J. Foley, P.E.

Thomas J. Foley, P.E. currently serves as acting commissioner of DDC. He started at DDC as an engineer-in-charge in 1998, supervising a team of resident engineers and evaluating and approving design modifications of engineering structures and systems. After 9/11, he became a project manager for DDC’s World Trade Center Disaster Recovery and Debris Removal Project, reviewing staffing and procedures, analyzing labor and equipment utilization, and identifying and correcting inefficiencies in the $500 million project.

Foley has held a variety of roles at the agency, including deputy director, director, and assistant commissioner in the agency’s Division of Infrastructure. In January 2014, he became associate commissioner in the Division of Infrastructure, while helping to spearhead the activation of Water Tunnel 3. In January 2017, he assumed the role of deputy commissioner of the Public Buildings Division, establishing short- and long-term plans for the division to best align with the goals of the agency and provide executive leadership on divisional/agency initiatives, and was responsible for managing the design and construction of a large range of civic buildings for the City of New York.

Foley earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Manhattan College. He is a licensed professional engineer and a certified construction manager. He also serves on the national board of the Design Build Institute of America. 

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