Maya Wiley Announces 2021 Run for Mayor

NEW YORK — Maya Wiley, a civil rights activist who formerly served as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s chief counsel, is officially running for mayor.

Wiley announced her bid to succeed her former boss in a video posted to social media Wednesday evening:

“I want to build a New York where — no matter who you are or what you look like, how you identify or who you love, whether you have a big bank account or none at all, whether you live in public housing or luxury condos — you can live a life with dignity and opportunity in this city,” Wiley says in the video.

Wiley is expected to publicly launch her campaign on Thursday at the public plaza outside the Brooklyn Museum. She will be joined by leaders from all five boroughs, according to the campaign in addition to State Sen. Mike Gianaris, who will endorse her campaign.

Wiley has never held public office. After serving as de Blasio’s top lawyer, she was appointed chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city’s independent police oversight agency, in 2016.

Wiley currently serves as the senior vice president for Social Justice at The New School. She has been expected to jump into the race for months and is now one of the most prominent Black women to run in what is expected to be a crowded field ahead of the Democratic primary.