Overview
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment at High Bridge Park in the Bronx, elevating Shimamura from Manhattan borough commissioner.
- Shimamura succeeds retiring commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, whom the mayor thanked for decades of service to the department.
- As commissioner, she will oversee maintenance and access across roughly 30,000 acres of city parkland, from beaches and pools to playgrounds and plazas.
- Her background includes work as a social worker and roles with former Rep. Carolyn Maloney and then–Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
- The Parks Department currently receives about 0.6% of the city budget, and groups such as New Yorkers for Parks are pressing for movement toward the mayor’s 1% pledge in the preliminary plan due at month’s end.