Chirlane McCray is widely recognized as the new York City first lady. Prior to her marriage to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, she worked as a writer, having penned speeches for various political figures and poetry for publication in widely read scholarly journals. She has made a name for herself through her various projects in the public health field. Following her appointment to a notable position in her husband’s administration, McCray is working to raise awareness of the evolution of hospitals and matters affecting mental health. She has helped her husband cement his public image as she is his best advisor and works hand in hand with him. Continue reading,
Chirlane McCray’s Biography
The accomplished speechwriter was born into the family of Robert Hooper McCray and Katherine Clarissa Eileen on November 29, 1954 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Her father was a military base administrator while her mother worked in an electronics factory. Growing up, Chirlane McCray experienced racism to the point that petitions were written against her family when they moved to Longmeadow, Massachusetts, demanding their evacuation from the neighborhood.
In high school, McCray was bullied due to her color and race. After her experience, she began writing, expressing her outrage against racial segregation through her writings. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, a private women’s liberal college in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She then began working in the private sector in 2004 as she was associated with the non-profit, non-sectarian hospital Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park, New York. She worked there for five years before joining the American investment bank and financial services as a PR officer for six months. Below are other fun facts about Chirlane McCray.
Facts about Bill de Blasio’s wife and NYC First Lady.
1. Chirlane McCray’s sexuality status
During her college years, McCray was a fellow feminist black girl lesbian organization known as the Combahee River Collective. She finally publicized her sexuality in 1979 when her article titled I Am a Lesbian was published in the monthly magazine for African American women, Essence. It later emerged that the reason Chirlane McCray wrote the article was to dispel the assumption that there are no black gay people in the country at the time. She was praised by the magazine for her openness and honesty about her sexuality.
2. Your political commitment
Bill de Blasio’s wife began writing speeches for then-New York City Mayor David Dinkins in 1991. She also continued to fill the same role for Herman Carl McCall when he was a State Cabinet official for the State of New York and Chief Accountant of the New York government was and control. She also wrote speeches for American politician William Coleridge Thompson Jr., who served as NYC’s 42nd Controller.
3. Your marriage
While working for then-NYC Mayor David Dinkins, Chirlane McCray met her now-husband, Bill de Blasio, who served as the Deputy Mayor’s personal assistant. The couple exchanged vows in 1994 in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The union is blessed with a daughter named Chiara and a son, Dante.
4. Chirlane McCray’s political appointment
McCray’s husband appointed her to chair the mayor’s fund to move NYC forward. After her appointment, she launched a public health initiative called ThriveNYC that aims to overhaul substance abuse services. Despite being criticized for spending fewer hours in the office, Chirlane McCray’s program is on track to spend about $1 billion in five years. The program has drawn widespread criticism for failing to get some proposed initiatives off the ground, as well as over $850 million reportedly missing from the fund.
5. She has a chief of staff
When Chirlane McCray’s husband became NYC mayor, she was assigned Chief of Staff Rachel Noerdlinger, a publicist and communications consultant who received an annual salary of around $170,000. Much controversy ensued after Noerdlinger’s appointment, with her eventually resigning from her position in November 2014. The next month, she was replaced by Roxanne John, who earns an annual salary of $200,000. Chirlane McCray also named Jackey Bray, a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official, as her deputy chief of staff at a salary of $125,000 per year.