Questions Remain About How Mamdani’s COGE Chief Makes His Money

On May 28, Mayor Mamdani announced the creation of a new committee that will propose changes to the New York City Charter. The so-named Commission on Governmental Efficiency—or COGE—promises to be a far saner version of Trump’s DOGE. Its first public  meeting is today.

Rather than a soon-to-be-trillionaire with a chainsaw, COGE’s leader is a well-traveled Democratic Party operative with deep ties to the New York City establishment. How COGE chair Patrick Gaspard pays his bills is a bit of a mystery. 

Gaspard, 58, cut his teeth in city politics during the Dinkins era, then became the leader of 1199SEIU, the powerhouse health care workers union. During Obama’s first term, he served as political director; from 2013-2016 he was U.S. ambassador to South Africa. 

During Bill de Blasio’s successful 2013 run and throughout his two terms at City Hall, Gaspard was a key ally. In 2016, de Blasio famously dubbed Gaspard and other informal advisors “agents of the city” in order to shield their lobbying efforts from scrutiny. Last summer, when Gaspard began to become an influential adviser to the Mamdani campaign, the New York Times uniquely characterized him as a “Democratic wise man.” What that means is open to multiple interpretations. 

In my book Meet Mayor Mamdani, I document Gaspard’s pivotal role in convincing the candidate who had been running as a committed criminal justice reformer to reappoint Jessica Tisch, the city elite’s preferred NYPD commissioner. Tisch has since carried the torch for her reactionary mentors Bill Bratton and Ray Kelly. 

Gaspard’s longstanding ties to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a former NYPD critic who strongly praised Mamdani’s Tisch move, surfaced recently in a New Yorker profile of the party leader. Michael Gaspard, Patrick’s brother, managed Jeffries’ first successful run for state senator. The extent to which Gaspard influenced Mamdani’s decision to discourage Chi Ossé from challenging Jeffries is not clear. 

In its COGE press release last week, the mayor’s team listed a number of Gaspard’s past positions in his bio but no current one. It’s not at all clear how the veteran operative makes ends meet. 

“How can I help?” Gaspard texted me when I initially contacted him on Wednesday, June 3 around 10:30 am. After he stated that his day was filled up, we pushed back the deadline from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. I then texted the following questions:

-Will COGE address any inefficiencies in NYPD spending?

-Do you remain a firm supporter of Jessica Tisch, despite her opposition to nearly all reforms Mamdani proposed on the campaign trail?

-What is your primary current source of income? 

-If you are paid for consulting, who are your NYC clients? 

The evening deadline passed with no response from Gaspard. 

Questions about his income should not remain unanswered. Richard Buery, chair of Mayor Adams’ charter review committee, is CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, thus providing him with a sizable salary. 

The charter commission is designed to propose measures that will be placed on the November ballot, so even if Gaspard receives compensation for his work as chair, he presumably will need other sources of revenue throughout the year. 

According to the city’s Conflict of Interests Board, Gaspard and fellow charter commission members are required to file a disclosure report identifying various business dealings. Because the 2026 filing period closed on May 1, Gaspard may not be required to furnish his information until 2027. 

Voluntary disclosure remains a straightforward option. But that’s not how dealmakers roll.