The City Council on Thursday approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pick to lead the city’s Department of Investigation, backing former federal prosecutor Nadia Shihata after questions arose over whether she could independently oversee the administration that appointed her.
The appointment, taken up during the council’s stated meeting, passed 40-9, with five Republicans — Joann Ariola, Frank Morano, Vickie Paladino, Inna Vernikov and David Carr — and four Democrats — Simcha Felder, Darlene Mealy, Phil Wong and Susan Zhuang — voting no.
The vote capped a confirmation fight centered on the independence of the city’s corruption watchdog. During Shihata’s April 6 hearing, council members pressed her about four donations totaling $700 to Mamdani’s campaign, a brief stint canvassing for him, and whether she would recuse herself from cases involving the mayor or senior administration officials. Hizzoner said he was unaware of her support for his candidacy.
Lawmakers also questioned Shihata about her relationship with Ramzi Kassem, the mayor’s chief counsel. Shihata said Kassem reached out to gauge her interest in the DOI post before she applied. He reportedly reached out to her days after former DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber tendered her resignation in early January.
Shihata told the council members at the time that she would do the job “without fear or favor, following the evidence and the law and nothing else.”
On Thursday, Council Member Frank Morano said his objections went to the office, not just the nominee. “This is not about the nominee’s qualifications,” Morano said. “But this vote isn’t about credentials. It’s about the role … Because of that, the standard here has to be higher, not just actual independence, but the appearance of independence.”
Another opponent, Council Member David Carr, member of the committee on rules, said his no vote was “centered on the notion that we never given access to her social media accounts,” which he said should have been part of the council’s vetting.
Carr added that “it’s absolutely reasonable to want to go through and vet public utterances on potentially public and other matters, at least from the committee’s perspective, so that we can come to a full and complete judgment.”
Supporters argued Shihata’s record made her well suited for the post. Council Member Shekar Krishnan said, “The independence of the Department investigation is sacred,” and said DOI “needs to do the hard work to move us beyond the years of the Adams administration, the stain of corruption.”
“Nadia has made it clear through her hearings, that the DOI under her leadership will be the department that is not afraid to take risks and take on the hard fights that will safeguard the integrity of city government and its trust with New Yorkers and solidify and fight for the department’s independence,” he added.
Restler cast Shihata as a seasoned prosecutor whose independence had been unfairly questioned. He called her record “remarkably distinguished,” said her “integrity is unimpeachable,” and argued that limited contact with City Hall and a past campaign donation did not justify doubts about whether she could serve as an independent watchdog.
He added that Shihata told him that “if there is wrongdoing at City Hall, if there’s wrongdoing at an agency, she will investigate it fully to the full extent of the law.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing two people with knowledge of a private conversation, that Speaker Julie Menin had decided not to block the nomination after speaking by phone with Mamdani.
Ahead of the council meeting, Speaker Julie Menin rejected the idea that she had reversed course on blocking the nomianion as had been reported. “So it’s not that I change my mind,” Menin said.
Instead, she said, the council had followed its normal advice-and-consent process, including a review of her record and conversations with Rules Committee members who raised concerns during the hearing. After that vetting, Menin said, “the right thing to do, given her background, is to move the nomination forward.”
Shihata, who was nominated in February, spent more than a decade in the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, where she worked on public corruption and racketeering matters, including the R. Kelly prosecution, before co-founding a law firm focused on criminal defense, civil rights and internal investigations.
Under the city charter, the DOI commissioner oversees investigations into corruption, fraud, waste and abuse across city agencies and among those doing business with the city.
