Transcript: Mayor Adams Appoints Lisa Zornberg as City Hall Chief Counsel

July 26, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams: You could tell by my attitude I'm from New York and we are just really excited today. Our mixed emotions. Losing someone who I have just grown to admire and has become just a real friend. We probably laugh more than anything about people as we go through this and just bringing on a real New York, New York, I was telling inside the room that you know, just a badass. She is just a fighter, a straight shooter. The energy that comes with joining this amazing team and the beauty of New York City is that the bench and talent is just so deep. We have so many people that bring so much talent to the city.

And as the mayor, one of my greatest responsibilities is to really have a City Hall top lawyer. And when I looked for someone to hold that position, I was clear we did not want someone that was going to tell us what we wanted to hear. Someone that was going to just go through the motion. Someone that would have the ability to come inside that office, close the door and say, this is what you're faced with. Not only the legal aspect of it, but what Brendan did as the council was to say, here are the optics also.

So you'll make sure that you understand it clearly and to find someone to finish and complete that task, we look deep and we had some great possibilities of people who wanted to come on board and be a part of this team and continue the amazing work that we are doing. And I remember the three women who runs this city. Chief Advisor Martin, Deputy Mayor, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Chief of Staff Camille. They all came back and said, all we have the one, we have the one, we are very clear they were uniform in a position. And so today I'm really honored to announce our next chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg. And congratulations to…

She is the right leader for the right time. And just really when you think about it, she has a promising career where she is doing extremely well. Her track record speaks for herself, but the commitment and dedication, and I remember sitting down when I did my final interview and asking why, and she says, "Public life is a great service," and she wanted to just continue that and committed herself to it. And we are really pleased that she decided to do so.

And again, I want to thank our outgoing counsel. Brendan, I cannot thank you enough, man, cannot thank you enough. I told your wife, "You have your husband back," because I interrupted weekends, nights, days, your children were always, "It's that man again on the phone bothering you." But you were there and you served us well through the complexities of government, some of the difficult time, our contract negotiations, 75 percent of our contracts, we were able to settle. You were on the front line of them as we dealt with the conversations around Rikers, as we dealt with all of the monitors we had to deal with. You were just a real advice. And I cannot thank you. At the beginning of the administration having someone that I can lean on that just knew where the moral compass was and you moved us in the right direction. And so we wish you well in your journey. You've fit in so well with this administration and we cannot thank you enough. Your dad, being a former police commissioner, understood the complexities of government and you served this city well. Your family should be extremely proud.

So balancing safety and justice, equity and fairness is crucial to this role. You need a great legal mind and we must make sure we have that. And I believe and we all believe as a team, we found that in Lisa. She has taken on the corrupt and the criminal, keeping our nation and our city safe and she's a dedicated public servant. For 14 years she served in the US Attorney's Office serving as the Assistant United States attorney in both the civil and criminal divisions. She was Deputy Chief of Appeals in the Civil Division and was Co-Chief of the Complex Frauds unit in the Criminal Division. She has also served as Chief of the Criminal Division of the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York where she oversaw the office's criminal investigation and prosecution, including corrupt, corporate and securities fraud, cyber crime, criminal violation of US sanctions, RICO violation, terrorism, public corruption, construction fraud, violence and drug offenses. And she even clerked for a woman who's one of my heroes, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor when she served as a United States district judge.

Currently, she's a partner in Debevoise & Plimpton, leading their white collar regulatory defense group. I'm so proud to welcome Lisa back to public service. She continues this administration's traditional of leadership by strong woman and she knows what it takes to ensure justice is served and democracy is protected. She was dubbed as the tiny tornado and she's going to bring those strong winds so we fight for the winds of change and protect government. I can't wait to work with her. I'm excited about it. And it is my great honor to introduce the new chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, to say a few words.

Lisa Zornberg, Incoming Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall: Thank you, mayor. First, let me just say how absolutely thrilled I am to be coming on as Chief Counsel to the Mayor and to City Hall. This is truly a tremendous honor, the honor of a lifetime. I love the city dearly. I'm born and bred in Brooklyn. I grew up in…

[Crosstalk.]

Yes. I grew up in Seagate at the tip of Coney Island, the child… All right. I'm the child of two amazing New York City public school teachers, my mom and dad who are here today.

I would add that all four of my grandparents immigrated to this country and made New York City their beloved home. I have never worked anywhere but New York City. I've never even thought of working anywhere but New York City. Why would anyone? And my idea of fun is visiting the Whispering Walls in Grand Central Terminal or reading poetry in motion on the New York City subway. I see my son is laughing because he knows this is all true. We have the privilege of working and living and serving in the greatest city in the world. And for me to be able to come on board this team as part of the Adams' administration to serve all New Yorkers is exciting beyond words.

Let me say a few words if I may, about why I'm hopeful that my 30 years of experience as a lawyer has prepared me to take on this role. Public service is near and dear to my heart. For 16 years in total, I served as a Federal Prosecutor at the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, including as Chief of the Criminal Division. I led 170 prosecutors and oversaw hundreds of prosecutions as the mayor mentioned, involving public corruption, terrorism, violent crime, fraud. I also pursued civil rights cases to enforce the anti-discrimination laws of the United States and to protect the rights of people with disabilities. I've worked closely with the NYPD, the Department of Investigation, and pretty much every city state and federal agency that is committed to protecting the safety of New Yorkers and the integrity of their institutions.

In private practice as a lawyer for years now, I've advised businesses, individuals, nonprofit institutions on how to navigate their thorniest legal issues. And I'm now excited to put everything I've learned, every skill I have, every ounce of energy to work on behalf of New Yorkers. I believe strongly in the power of good government. Government run with integrity and passion for solving real problems remains the best way to lift up people and communities. And that's what I'm here to do.

When I met the Mayor, I did tell him, "I'm a straight shooter. I don't BS." And the Mayor looked me in the eyes and said, "That's what I want." I want to thank Brendan for a moment, Chief Counsel who's outgoing for helping to make this a seamless transition. And for having built an incredible team within City Hall. Brendan, there is no way literally that I can fill your shoes. You are practically seven feet tall. I'm barely scraping five feet, but figuratively, I do hope to fill your shoes and I am so energized to work with the fantastic deputy mayors and advisors and commissioners and everyone standing behind me who is part of this marvelous team. Thank you mayor for the opportunity. I'm excited to join the team and get to work.

Mayor Adams: Thank you, Lisa. I remember, I don't know what paper it was in, someone wrote a line, a sentence that they were surprised that Brendan would join this administration since he came from such a good school. I didn't quite understand what they meant by that, seeing that Sheena with her Columbia Ivy League degree and so many of these great people behind us. But it just showed the character of Brendan.
Brendan loved this city like Lisa loved the city and he didn't listen to the noise. He knew there was some important work to do. He came on board and from day one helped us identify those important areas where we had to staff up, sat down and advised me on the appointments of DOI, commissioners, other lawyers, other igs. And as Lisa stated, just was candid. We had good candid conversations with his team. He put together an amazing team of attorneys who came in to assist him, the millions of dollars we were able to retrieve from taxpayers dollars of those who were trying to misuse funds in our city. But the oversight that you put in was remarkable.

And he just brought this even keenness to this administration, able to sit in every room. Everyone trusted him. Everyone knew he had the best interests of the city and this administration at heart. He brought that emotional intelligence that I talk about all the time. He was known, not just a council, we developed a friendship, a person that I trusted, I was willing to listen to his advice, was willing to move in another direction after having a good candid conversation. I was blessed to have a legal advisor who came on board to this administration and helped us during the time that we need and is handing the ball over to Lisa so that we could continue the good work that we have to do. Challenging times: migrants, asylum seekers, Rikers. We still have 25 percent of our union contracts to settle. Being able to sit down and speak with all the monitors. He laid the foundation that we can build doing this.

So Lisa will won't fill his shoes, she's going to bring her own pair and they're going to be punks with heels to them. And she's going to do it differently. But no one, no one could do it the way my good friend and my council here did it. I cannot thank you enough, brother. Say a few words.

Brendan McGuire, Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall: Well, this is a bittersweet day for sure. Thank you, mayor. It has been a true privilege to serve as a part of this team. The weight, the complexity, and the meaning of the work that we're able to do every day for New Yorkers is immeasurable. But it's the people and the people behind me who have made this experience so special. This team, this administration is a very special group of people. Talented, driven, funny, hardworking professionals, and they all want to make a difference every day. And in particular, I needed to start to thank my team in the chief counsel's office: Rahul, Allison, Bill, Amanda, Jeff, Michael, Alicia, and of course, Carmen. This group is what we call the Legal Navy Seals for this administration. They support and protect us every day without any of us even really knowing it and in ways we don't always fully appreciate. And I have depended on and learned from them in more ways than they know.

I also want to thank my wife Victoria, who's here today. She has had to sacrifice in so many ways and on so many mornings and so many nights and so many weekends to enable me to do this work. But like a true partner, she's always understood how much it all means to me. So thank you, Victoria.

Finally, the mayor. You say you're waiting for this job to get hard. From where I sit, it looks pretty hard sometimes. But you always stay even. You always stay even. And you maintain your perspective and your drive. And for me, most importantly, you always treat everyone with respect. There's a fundamental decency to this administration that you never allow us to stray from. And you're the example for all of us. And it is one that we are proud to follow. So thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for your trust and thank you for your unwavering support each and every day. Please know that I'm grateful.

And I also just want to make the point about the fact that no prior mayor had the courage to do what this mayor did, which is to invite a former Federal Public Corruption Prosecutor with whom he had no prior relationship into his inner circle. Sometimes gets lost in a lot of noise. No one else has ever done that. And I would ask all of you to keep watch down the road and see if any other mayor decides to do that. My hope is they do based on what we've done here. But that requires a lot of courage and it requires a lot of foresight. And I think that to do so and to invite me into your inner circle, and not only to do that, but then to empower me and my team to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the principles of good government became a part of the fabric of this administration is a true testament to your commitment to good government. And the mayor has understood the importance of that since day one.
And then, despite all the headaches that I have caused by virtue of that invitation, he's decided that he wants another straight talking pain in the neck former prosecutor. And he has found that in Lisa. I've known Lisa for a long time. She is the first person who interviewed me when I was applying to the US Attorney's office nearly 20 years ago. She is pragmatic, she's dedicated, she's tough, and she has exceptional judgment. She has the heart, the brains, and the backbone to do an excellent job here. And I'm confident that she will be an exceptional leader and teammate for this administration.

Lisa, this administration is very, very fortunate to have you, but I expect that you will soon feel as I do, which is that you are far more fortunate to have them. I will miss you all. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. A few questions… Oh, man. So before we open up to a few Q and As, we want to just let New Yorkers know that we're dealing with a heat advisory in effect starting tomorrow and will likely extend until Saturday. Forecast for tomorrow shows a heat index of 105 to 108, that's serious heat. So don't underestimate it. The forecast for tomorrow can reach the nineties and feel like 105. We are going to be coordinating and opening 500 cooling centers opening starting tomorrow Thursday. And they will be operating Thursday through Saturday. New Yorkers can find ways to stay cool at nyc.gov/beattheheat. Make sure to check on your elder elderly neighbors or those who are dealing with breathing conditions so we could look out for each other. And if you must be outside, take breaks, stay in the shade. We expect temperatures to drop back to seasonal temperatures after Saturday. And so why don't we open for a few questions to Lisa? Sure not let them.

[...]

Question: Actually, I had a question for [inaudible]. I was wondering if you could offer some [inaudible].

McGuire: Sure. It is a unique challenge and it's one that's obviously ongoing. And I think that from a legal standpoint, and there are obviously many, many aspects to the challenge, but I think what is unique and uniquely challenging about this moment is that previously when waves of immigrants came into New York, as they have throughout the city's history, all of those individuals were allowed to work. They were allowed to make their way. They were allowed to build a foundation for a new life. That's no longer the case as you all know. There is a challenge now with respect to the federal process for getting work authorization. And that has led to a situation where the city is forced to care for these folks and to help them form a foundation, but without any certainty or predictability with respect to their ability to work in the future. And I think that is a challenge, not just for the city. It's a challenge for them. I think these individuals want to work.

And so that is, I think, one of the most noticeable differences from generations past. And I think it speaks to the larger questions of how this new type of crisis needs to be seen through the lens of what are sometimes laws, requirements, restrictions that did not contemplate this kind of crisis. And so I think that's really where creativity, not just in the legal lane, but also from a policy and operational standpoint is required. And I think that's exactly what Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom and the entire team have been doing for the last, now more than a year as we've been confronted with this.

Question: I have this question for Lisa, I'm sure you've been following what's been going on in the city for the last 18 months and just in general, but did Brendan give any advice or especially in dealing with, whether it's the staff or a face to look out for?

Zornberg: Be on the march.

McGuire: Privilege.

Zornberg: Right.

McGuire: Privilege.

Zornberg: Yeah. That's awesome. Without violating any attorney client privilege, I would say that Brendan and I have known each other for a long time, we're former colleagues at the US Attorney's Office. He knows well the kind of straight shooter I am. And what he assured me coming into the interview process was that that would be welcomed and valued and wanted in this administration.

Question: Will the city continue its legal challenge with the right of shelter mandate and also.

[...]

Question: Well, no. This is something that's going on. Will you continue that to pursue that in court?

Zornberg: So my official start date's in a couple weeks from now, and I look forward to digging in very deeply on the issues.

Question: Do you think the city should amend? Do you think it should be amended?

[...]

Question: This is for Brendan. Coming from, before joining the administration, you were coming from a prosecutorial situation. This is different, you're in government, still function as a lawyer. How did this experience working in City Hall, did it change your perspective at all in terms of how government operates and looking at it from a different perspective there?

McGuire: It absolutely did. The role of a prosecutor is in many ways quite straightforward. Sometimes there can be gray, but oftentimes issues are much more black and white. I think here you realize that the legal elements to a challenge are one piece and that there are priorities, there are initiatives that have to get accomplished and that sometimes existing law, existing legal restrictions can sometimes prove to be an impediment to those. Sometimes that can be the end of the discussion. But I think with this administration, the goal is to say, okay, what is a way that we can make this work? And I think it ends up demanding more creativity, more flexibility. You always have to obviously adhere to the law, but there are ways in which I think lawyers can bring their own type of creativity and an entrepreneurial approach to what are new problems when oftentimes those new problems have some tension with existing law or restrictions. And you do the best you can to support all of the important work that the leaders of the administration are doing.

Question: Mr. Mayor. Speaking of legal issues, just wondering if the city at all is in the lawsuit against the 30 upstate counties, would you hope that [inaudible] steps in this issue [inaudible]?

Mayor Adams: I think that there's something that I hope was not lost. I thought it was very important coming from you, Brendan, and I wanted Lisa to hear it also. At the heart of this administration is the integrity. And there was nowhere, Brendan and his team could not go in this administration. Everything had to pass the smell test. I wanted a former prosecutor here to look over this administration and make sure at any time that you felt someone in this administration was doing anything improper, Brendan had a open door policy to say if this is a problem, that was at the top of our list.

And that is why Lisa's so important because we are continuing that tradition of making sure that someone that's a former prosecutor that understands way before people go across the line. You shouldn't wait until someone crossed the line that they can come in and give us the advice on proper practices, proper procedures, how to do things correctly. And that's the foundation of this administration. This administration is an administration that believes we must be beyond approach. And that's why, Michael, I sleep well every night because I had Brendan and now I have Lisa. I can go to bed, hug my little teddy bear and go to sleep because they are watching my back. They're watching the back of this city. Job well done. Job well done. Lisa, job to be done.

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