Commissioner of Health of the City of New York

The commissioner of health of the City of New York is the head of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The commissioner is appointed by the Mayor of New York City, and also serves on the city's Board of Health with the chairperson of the Department's Mental Hygiene Advisory Board and nine other members appointed by the mayor.

History The Metropolitan Board of Health, which was the predecessor agency to the Department of Health and consisted of sanitary and vital statistics bureaus, had its first meeting on March 5, 1866. The modern Department of Health, under a single commissioner, was formed by the New York City Charter revision pursuant to Chapter 137 of the Laws of 1870 passed by the New York State legislature. In the early years after its formation, commissioners were sometimes political appointments, with no experience in medicine or related fields. In 2002, the Department of Health was merged with the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services to form the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Qualifications City regulations currently require that the commissioner of health must be a doctor of medicine, and have either an M.P.H. degree, an M.B.A. or M.P.A. degree with concentration in the health field, or an equivalent degree and at least five years' teaching experience in college or university public health teaching, or at least five years' experience in public health administration.

Duties According to the New York City Charter, the commissioner is broadly responsible for preparing plans for construction and operation of medical and health care facilities and establishing their priorities, has the power to compel the testimony of witnesses and produce reports and documents in matters regarding health, and assess penalties up to $1,000 for violations or failures to comply with health notices or regulations. These duties involve regulating and overseeing matters ranging from reportable contagious diseases, to registration of birth and deaths, restaurant inspections, selling food from carts, selling tobacco products to minors and monitoring of smoking in public areas, regulation of wild animals, and sending health alerts to the public and doctors.

List of commissioners of health of the City of New York + List of commissioners of health of the City of New York Name Dates in office Mayoral administration 1 Joseph Bosworth April 27, 1870 – May 8, 1873 Abraham Oakey Hall 2 Charles F. Chandler, Ph.D. May 8, 1873 – June 12, 1883 William F. Havemeyer, Samuel B. H. Vance, William H. Wickham, Smith Ely, Jr., Edward Cooper, William Russell Grace, Franklin Edson 3 Alexander Shaler June 13, 1883 – March 7, 1887 Franklin Edson, William Russell Grace, Abram S. Hewitt vacant March 7, 1887 – March 14, 1887 Abram S. Hewitt 4 James C. Bayles March 14, 1887 – May 1889 Abram S. Hewitt, Hugh J. Grant 5 Charles G. Wilson May 1889 – January 1, 1898 Hugh J. Grant, Thomas F. Gilroy, William L. Strong 6 Nathan Straus January 1, 1898 – March 3, 1898 Robert Van Wyck 7 Michael Cotter Murphy March 3, 1898 – February 22, 1901 Robert Van Wyck 8 John B. Sexton February 22, 1901 – January 1, 1902 Robert Van Wyck 9 Ernst J. Lederle, Ph.D. January 1, 1902 – January 1, 1904 Seth Low 10 Thomas Darlington, M.D. January 1, 1904 – January 9, 1910 George B. McClellan, Jr. 11 Ernst J. Lederle, Ph.D. January 9, 1910 – January 19, 1914 William J. Gaynor, Ardolph L. Kline 12 Sigismund Schulz Goldwater, M.D. January 19, 1914 – November 1, 1915 John P. Mitchel 13 Haven Emerson, M.D. November 1, 1915 – January 15, 1918 John P. Mitchel 14 J. Lewis Amster, M.D. January 15, 1918 – April 29, 1918 John F. Hylan 15 Royal S. Copeland, M.D. April 29, 1918 – March 7, 1923 John F. Hylan 16 Frank J. Monaghan, M.D. March 7, 1923 – January 1, 1926 John F. Hylan 17 Louis I. Harris, M.D. January 1, 1926 – August 1, 1928 Jimmy Walker 18 Shirley W. Wynne, M.D. August 1, 1928 – August 17, 1928 (acting)August 17, 1928 – January 1, 1934 Jimmy Walker, Joseph V. McKee, John P. O'Brien 19 John L. Rice, M.D. January 1, 1934 – July 16, 1942 Fiorello H. La Guardia 20 Ernest Lyman Stebbins, M.D. July 16, 1942 – March 4, 1946 Fiorello H. La Guardia, William O'Dwyer 21 Edward M. Bernecker, M.D. March 4, 1946 – March 13, 1946 William O'Dwyer 22 Israel Weinstein, M.D. March 13, 1946 – November 3, 1947 William O'Dwyer 23 Harry Stoll Mustard, M.D. November 3, 1947 – January 1, 1950 William O'Dwyer 24 John Friend Mahoney, M.D. January 1, 1950 – January 1, 1954 William O'Dwyer, Vincent R. Impellitteri 25 Leona Baumgartner, M.D. January 1, 1954 – October 2, 1962 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. 26 George James, M.D., M.P.H. October 2, 1962 – October 30, 1962 (acting)October 30, 1962 – October 1965 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. — John R. Philp, M.D. October 1965 – January 14, 1966 (acting) Robert F. Wagner, Jr., John V. Lindsay — Arthur Bushel, D.D.S., M.P.H. January 14, 1966 – June 1, 1966 (acting) John V. Lindsay 27 Howard Junior Brown, M.D. June 1, 1966 – December 15, 1966 John V. Lindsay 28 Edward O'Rourke, M.D. December 15, 1966 – May 28, 1969 John V. Lindsay 29 Mary C. McLaughlin, M.D., M.P.H. May 28, 1969 – January 17, 1972 John V. Lindsay 30 Joseph Anthony Cimino, M.D., M.P.H. January 17, 1972 – January 7, 1974 John V. Lindsay 31 Lowell E. Bellin, M.D., M.P.H. January 7, 1974 – January 3, 1977 Abraham D. Beame 32 Pascal James Imperato, M.D., M.P.H., T.M. January 3, 1977 – March 31, 1978 Abraham D. Beame 33 Reinaldo Antonio Ferrer, M.D., M.P.H. March 31, 1978 – November 28, 1981 Edward I. Koch 34 David Judson Sencer, M.D., M.P.H. November 28, 1981 – March 11, 1986 Edward I. Koch 35 Stephen C. Joseph, M.D., M.P.H. March 11, 1986 – March 30, 1990 Edward I. Koch 36 Woody Myers, Jr., M.D., M.B.A. March 30, 1990 – June 11, 1991 David N. Dinkins 37 Margaret Hamburg, M.D. June 11, 1991 – December 24, 1991 (acting)December 24, 1991 – April 15, 1997 David Dinkins, Rudolph W. Giuliani — Benjamin Mojica, M.D. April 15, 1997 – January 14, 1998 (acting) Rudolph W. Giuliani 38 Neal L. Cohen, M.D. January 14, 1998 – end of January, 2002 Rudolph W. Giuliani 39 Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. end of January, 2002 – May 15, 2009 Michael R. Bloomberg 40 Thomas A. Farley, M.D., M.P.H. May 18, 2009 – January 16, 2014 Michael R. Bloomberg 41 Mary Travis Bassett, M.D., M.P.H. January 16, 2014 – August 31, 2018 Bill de Blasio 42 Oxiris Barbot, M.D. September 1, 2018 – December 19, 2018 (acting)December 19, 2018 – August 4, 2020 Bill de Blasio 43 Dave A. Chokshi, M.D. August 4, 2020 – March 15, 2022 Bill de Blasio, Eric Adams 44 Ashwin Vasan, M.D. March 15, 2022 – October 18, 2024 Eric Adams 45 Michelle E. Morse, M.D., M.P.H. October 18, 2024 – January 31, 2026 Eric Adams 46 Alister Martin, M.D., M.P.P.January 31, 2026 – currentZohran Mamdani

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