New York City’s top homeless services official submitted her resignation on Monday, City Hall confirmed to amNewYork.
Molly Wasow Park, commissioner of the Department of Social Services, called it quits to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration on Feb. 9, according to a spokesperson. Park was appointed under former Mayor Eric Adams; her announced departure comes as City Hall continues to grapple with a historic cold snap gripping the Big Apple – one that led to 18 deaths as of Monday.
The resignation was first reported by Gothamist. Park told the outlet that weeks of uncertainty surrounding her role since Mamdani took office had been “really taxing on the agency, on me and my family,” adding that the department “deserves and needs a permanent leader.”
“We appreciate Commissioner Park’s years of service to the City and the Mayor looks forward to working with her through this transitional period,” said Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mamdani. “We will be naming a new commissioner in the coming weeks.”
Neither Park nor the Mamdani administration indicated when she will officially step down. Park has been a regular presence at Mayor Mamdani’s press conferences since the city activated its Code Blue policy on Jan. 19, stepping up shelter and outreach for people living on the streets during the extreme cold. As of Feb. 9, 18 New Yorkers have died outdoors, drawing attention to the difficulties of keeping people safely housed during extreme cold and the city’s ongoing shelter efforts.
Adams first appointed Park as acting commissioner of the Department of Social Services in February 2023 after her predecessor, Gary Jenkins, resigned to join former Adams chief of staff Frank Carone’s lobbying firm. Park was formally appointed commissioner on April 27, 2023.
Before leading DSS, Park served as first deputy commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services, which operates under Social Services. As commissioner, she oversaw both DHS and the city’s Human Resources Administration, which administers public assistance programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
During her tenure, Park emphasized permanent housing as the cornerstone of the city’s homelessness strategy, advancing a housing-first approach that prioritizes placing people into stable homes before addressing other challenges.
In a July 2025 opinion piece published by amNewYork, Park wrote that homelessness is fundamentally a housing crisis and argued that long-term housing stability, rather than prolonged shelter stays, must be the city’s primary goal.
Under her leadership, the agency expanded programs aimed at moving people from shelters into permanent housing, including the use of CityFHEPS rental vouchers and partnerships to create affordable housing units for shelter residents. CityFHEPS, the city’s locally funded rental assistance program, has been the subject of a years-long legal and political dispute over eligibility. In 2023, the City Council passed laws to expand the program, including extending eligibility to people at risk of eviction, but the Adams administration declined to implement the changes, citing fiscal concerns and legal authority questions.
The expansion has not yet moved forward under Mamdani, whose administration has said more time is needed to address budget pressures before implementing the broader eligibility envisioned by the council and housing advocates, despite campaign pledges to drop the lawsuit and proceed with the expansion.
