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Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, New York\u2019s<\/a> mayor, has hired Erin Dalton as a new commissioner of the city\u2019s department of social services.<\/p>\n The hire comes as the new mayor has faced scrutiny over the city\u2019s handling of its unhoused population following the deaths of at least 20 people<\/a> who were found outdoors<\/a> during an especially cold winter.<\/p>\n Dalton had previously<\/a> directed the Allegheny county Department of Human Services in the Pittsburgh area. The previous commissioner, Molly Wasow Park, was appointed by Eric Adams<\/a> in 2023 and resigned<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n \u201cErin Dalton has spent decades proving that government can and must work better for people who rely on it most,\u201d Mamdani stated in a news release<\/a>. \u201cShe has expanded access to housing, strengthened social services and protected our most vulnerable neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocates for the homeless population have criticized<\/a> Mamdani for reinstituting sweeps of encampments after pausing the practice on his fifth day in office.<\/p>\n The Coalition for the Homeless also criticized for Mamdani for deciding not to expand CityFHEPS, a rental assistance program, after pledging to do so during his campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very disappointed to see the mayor backpedaling\u201d on those promises, said David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition. \u201cThe sweeps do not do anything to address unsheltered homelessness in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n But the mayor said that under the new policy<\/a>, the Department of Homeless Services, rather than the police, would conduct the sweeps.<\/p>\n \u201cThe model that Mayor Mamdani is going to be using is better than the one that Mayor Adams was using, which was really based on criminalizing people for being homeless,\u201d Giffen said. \u201cBut unless people who are sleeping outside are being connected with what they need, all it\u2019s doing is making life much more difficult for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Dalton, who spent 18 years with Allegheny county, wrote an opinion piece in September 2025 for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a> in which she touted that year earlier there had been nearly 150 tents in its riverfronts and downtown.<\/p>\n But now, there will only a \u201chandful, usually only for a day or two\u201d, she stated.<\/p>\n The city and county accomplished that reduction through outreach teams \u201cwalking alongside them, making sure people knew where shelter and housing was available, making sure they understood an encampment would be closing, and making sure no one was caught by surprise\u201d, Dalton wrote.<\/p>\n Giffen said the coalition was \u201clooking forward\u201d to working with the new commissioner.<\/p>\n