Mayor Appoints New HPD and DOB Commissioners

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that Louise Carroll will serve as the next Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Carroll will work closely with the new Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants to create strategies to hold bad landlords accountable.

Carroll is currently the General Counsel of the Housing Development Corporation. She formerly served at HPD from 2006 to 2018, most recently as Associate Commissioner for Housing Incentives. During her tenure at the agency, Carroll revamped the city’s tax incentives programs to increase the number of low-income housing units. Carroll also led the creation of a compliance and enforcement unit to protect tenants’ rights and make sure landlords were following through on their promises to the city.

Before her tenure at HPD, Carroll served as an associate counsel at the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board and as a transactions attorney for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. Before beginning her career in public service, Carroll was the chief financial officer of an international ship-owning and brokerage company. 

Mayor de Blasio also recently announced the appointment of Melanie La Rocca as Commissioner of the Department of Buildings (DOB). She’s charged with ensuring the safety of workers by regulating the city’s real estate and construction industries, and enforcing the agency’s laws to protect tenants from construction harassment. The DOB regulates and promotes the safe and lawful use of nearly 1.1 million buildings and more than 45,000 active construction sites in New York City.

La Rocca currently serves as Vice President of Development and External Affairs at the School Construction Authority (SCA), where she oversees the Real Estate Group and all site development, as well as Design and Construction Services and special projects. In this role, she works closely with key stakeholders–including the DOB and other groups within the construction industries–to identify potential school sites and develop plans to construct new facilities for city students.

Prior to joining SCA, La Rocca served as Chief of Staff to Christine C. Quinn, former Speaker of the City Council. She previously served as a member of Queens Community Board 1. Additionally, she was a member of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City (SDNYC) for nearly a decade, previously serving as executive vice president. La Rocca obtained a Bachelor’s degree from Fordham University, where she majored in Political Science with a concentration in Public Administration. La Rocca is a native New Yorker and a lifelong Queens resident.