2. There Have Been Two Female Commissioners in the History of the Department of Sanitation

Kathryn Garcia at Mulchfest. Photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office.

The first sanitation commissioner for the DSNY was George E. Waring Jr., and since then there have been ten people to assume the role. The first female sanitation commissioner was Emily Lloyd, who held the post from 1992 to 1994. She served as the Commissioner for the Department of Environmental Protection from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2014 to the present. The second female Commissioner for the Department of Sanitation is Kathryn Garcia, who was appointed by Mayor de Blasio in March 2014. Before her current post, Garcia had multiple roles within the DEP including Chief Operating Officer, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Projects.