New York Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has appointed Haitian American emergency physician Dr. Alister Martin as commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), placing a nationally recognized public health leader at the helm of one of the largest public health systems in the world.
The appointment was announced Jan. 31. Martin, an emergency room physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, will oversee New York City’s public health system, including disease surveillance and response, prevention initiatives, and community health programs across the city’s five boroughs.
“Dr. Martin will help oversee the city’s public health apparatus, monitor and manage disease outbreaks, and advance the Mamdani Administration’s vision for a city where every New Yorker can find affordable, accessible, world-class healthcare,” City Hall said in a statement.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene operates with an annual budget of approximately $1.6 billion and employs more than 7,000 workers, making it one of the largest public health agencies globally.
Martin said the appointment carries deep personal meaning and reflects a commitment to the communities that shaped his upbringing.
“As a kid from Jackson Heights, nothing means more to me than coming home to serve the city I was born in,” Martin said in the announcement. “I’ve spent my career building programs that turn healthcare settings into launchpads for opportunity.”
He said the role also reconnects him to his immigrant roots and to the experiences that influenced his career in medicine and public service.
“My mother raised me as a single parent in Jackson Heights,” Martin said. “She worked her way up from a fry cook at McDonald’s to a consultant at the United Nations.”
In a separate statement, Martin further emphasized his background and upbringing.
“My mother raised me as a single parent in Jackson Heights, a Haitian immigrant doing her level best,” he said. “She worked her way up from a fry cook at McDonald’s to a consultant at the United Nations.”
Martin previously served as an adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris and worked in the White House Office of Public Engagement. He is also the founder of Vot-ER, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes civic participation through healthcare settings, and leads A Healthier Democracy, a healthcare organizing incubator based at Northeastern University.
According to the mayor’s office, Martin’s work has focused on expanding access to services beyond traditional medical care, including opioid addiction treatment, vaccine access, financial assistance, and civic resources. His initiatives have partnered with more than 1,700 hospitals nationwide and trained tens of thousands of clinicians.
“From the emergency room to the White House, he has built programs that deliver at scale,” said Michael Collins, former White House director of public engagement for the vice president’s office. “He will bring that same results-driven approach to improving the health of all New Yorkers.”
Martin was one of five new commissioners announced in the mayor’s latest round of appointments. The others include Stanley Richards as commissioner of the Department of Correction — the first formerly incarcerated person to hold that role — Yesenia Mata as commissioner of the Department of Veterans’ Services, Sandra Escamilla-Davies as commissioner of the Department of Youth and Community Development, and Vilda Vera Mayuga as commissioner of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
