Rev. Al slaps Wiley on her diversity record
The Rev. Al Sharpton has decided not to make an endorsement in the hotly contested mayoral primary race — but just two days before Tuesday’s election, he criticized Maya Wiley’s diversity record.
When Wiley left the de Blasio administration in 2016 — where she served both as Hizzoner’s counsel and as director of the city’s minority/women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) program — less than 5 percent of public spend- ing went to minority- and/ or women-owned firms, even though they account for 30 percent of Big Apple-based companies.
During her two years at
City Hall, the portion of total MWBE procurement for the city actually dropped from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent, according to the city Comptroller’s Office.
“I’ve not reviewed the contracts, but much of our work at NAN is around economic equity and fighting to get MWBE contracts up, not down,” Sharpton (inset) told The Post, referring to his civil-rights organization, the National Action Network.
City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, who is supporting Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for mayor, had harsher words for Wiley’s apparent inability to boost the bucks to minority businesses during her tenure.
“That is a disgrace,” Cumbo said. “Black and brown New Yorkers need economic opportunity, not empty rhetoric.”
Robert L. Greene, head of the National Association of Investment Companies, questioned whether Wiley, a civil-rights attorney, was a true progressive given the lack of minority-contracting progress under her leadership.
“It is difficult to predict what any candidate will do when they are in office,” Greene told The Post. “However, the two best indicators seem to be track record and what are the priorities of their biggest supporters. The fundamental question is, what did you do when you had an opportunity to lead.
“Unfortunately, very little has been done in NYC to more broadly engage with minority business. Despite a ‘progressive agenda’ the facts are that minority business enterprise utilization rates have remained flat, leaving many minority contractors out of getting full and fair consideration,” Green added.
“I hope the voters in this year’s NYC mayoral race understand that and elect a mayor that will provide broader opportunities for those that continue to be left behind.”
And while Wiley’s MWBE work is in the past, her opponents point to her current backing by the 1199SEIU health-care union as evidence that her lack of focus on boosting minority businesses would continue if she is elected mayor.
Greene said that less than 2 percent of the union’s $20 billion pension fund is with diverse asset managers.
A recent Post poll found Wiley in second place just behind Adams in the Democratic primary.
Wiley spokeswoman Julia Savel said, “As head of the MWBE program, Maya Wiley brought together every New York City agency and took New York from $500 million in contracts to $1.6 billion in just two years.”