Calling coronavirus “an unprecedented threat,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Saturday unveiled a special pandemic response team to help coordinate relief efforts.
“We must respond with a wartime mentality,” de Blasio said, in announcing new roles for his senior staff to sync food distribution and other emergency measures.
Emma Wolfe will now be the second to succeed the mayor if he is unable to serve.

Sanitation Department head Kathryn Garcia will serve as “COVID-19 Food Czar” working with city and state agencies to ensure a steady supply of food into the city.

Peter Hatch is former chief of staff to the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and was a senior advisor to the mayor on homelessness. He will now work as the Covid-19 Public-Private Partnership Czar.

Former staffer Gabrielle Fialkoff will work as a senior adviser to the mayor to help coordinate pandemic relief efforts, and Julie Bero will serve as chief of staff for the deputy mayor of Health and Human Services overseeing the city’s 12 health and social service agencies.