Amid New York City Hall chaos, another high-profile commissioner considered leaving

NEW YORK — Another high-ranking official in Mayor Eric Adams' administration recently considered leaving as the mayor's inner circle grapples with federal corruption investigations.

Zach Iscol, New York City's emergency management commissioner, told several people he intended to leave his job this fall, three people familiar with his thinking said. They were granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive personnel matter.

In his role, Iscol is responsible for coordinating the city's response to hurricanes and other natural crises. But he appears to have limited patience for the man-made crisis unfolding around the mayor, as evidenced by leaked audio in which he recently told his senior staff that the current state of play could undermine public safety.

"This is not good," he said, according to the recording obtained by The Associated Press. "There's a lot going on in the city and the thing that I'm most concerned about is city leadership being distracted."

When asked whether he plans to resign, Iscol did not directly answer the question.

"I know there's a lot of rumors going around," he told POLITICO. "This is what I can tell you: I love New York. I'll always do what I think is best for New Yorkers. This is a time where we really need leadership. Between hurricane season and the upcoming election and everything else we have going on in the city, I'm focused on doing my job as the emergency management commissioner."

A wealthy, telegenic former U.S. Marine with national political connections, Iscol was highly regarded by the mayor and other members of the administration. He received the job after making an unsuccessful run for city comptroller in 2021.

News of his considered departure came hours after POLITICO first reported that New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan submitted his resignation letter Monday and plans to leave later this year.

Following publication of this , Iscol posted on X , "I am not planning on leaving."

Within the hour, he took to X again to post , POLITICO's story "is accurate that I've had a number of conversations about this, but have decided the right thing to do is stick around."

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect Zach Iscol's state of mind based upon his public posts on Monday evening.