NEW YORK – Greek-American Emma Wolfe was recently appointed as chief of staff for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at the start of his second term in office though it was not more widely known since Wolfe tends to keep a low profile.
Even on the New York City official website, her information has not yet been updated to reflect her current position. Wolfe is the first Greek-American to hold such a high office in the New York City Mayor’s Office.
On March 20, Mayor Bill de Blasio opened the gates of the House of the People as he called Gracie Mansion in Manhattan to welcome and celebrate the 197th anniversary of Greek Independence with the Greek community. And one of the surprises was the announcement of the appointment of Emma Woolf as chief of staff.
Among those in attendance were His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Geron of America, Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York President Petros Galatoulas, and other executives, businessmen, professionals, representatives and members of other Greek community organizations. Also present were the Consuls General of Greece and Cyprus, Konstantinos Koutras and Ambassador Vasilios Philippou, respectively, Mayor of Mykonos Constantine P. Koukas, Greek entrepreneur and philanthropist Pantelis Boukouras, who came from Odessa, Ukraine, which was the seat of the Filiki Eteria, which inspired the uprising of Greeks.
Archbishop Demetrios gave the opening prayer and invited those present to sing Ti Ypermacho. He thanked the Mayor for the hospitality and invited him to the stage.
The Mayor spoke about the anniversary of March 25th and the New York tradition of celebrating the anniversary of the Greek Revolution and recognizing and honoring the contributions of the Greek-American community.
He then presented the Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis and awarded her the Proclamation. The mayor also thanked the Greek people, on behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers and personally, for all their contributions to civilization, notably democracy, philosophy, and drama, “all fundamental to our society, all of it began in Greece.”
Dukakis thanked the mayor for the opportunity to “create a moment of recognition for the Greek community as a whole and its many contributions to life here in New York City.”
“More than anything,” she said, “I want young Greek-Americans to know that this is a city of opportunity for them as it has been for me.”
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