De Blasio picks longtime city official to head Sandy recovery

Mayor Bill de Blasio has tapped former city official Amy Peterson to head the city’s Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts just as a state-run environmental agency gives the green light to hasten demolition of certain buildings irreparably damaged by the storm.

Peterson worked for the city under the Bloomberg and Giuliani administrations as a deputy commissioner in the Department of Design and Construction, a project director in the Human Resources Administration and as deputy director of the office of construction, DNAinfo reported.

After the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Peterson gave up her city career to join the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation as vice president, and helped to rebuild Ground Zero until 2005, according to the news site. Most recently she directed an advocacy group for women pursuing jobs in nontraditional industries like construction and transportation.

Both Brad Gair, the former chief of the Build It Back program, and Kathryn Mallon, who also supervised the recovery, resigned last month amid accusations that funds were being mismanaged, according to previous reports. The vast majority of funds earmarked to rebuild homes, roughly $650 million, have yet to be used, and officials blamed the hold up on red tape. [DNAinfo] and [DNAinfo] — Angela Hunt