Zach Iscol (born August 18, 1978) is an American civil servant, non-profit executive, politician, and armed forces veteran who serves as Commissioner of

New York City Emergency Management New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) (formerly the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM)) was originally formed in 1996 as part of the Mayor's Office under Rudolph W. Giuliani. By a vote of city residents in 2001 it became an ...

. Iscol is a

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

veteran and was a Democratic candidate in the 2021 New York City Comptroller election.

Early life and education

Iscol was born in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and grew up in

Pound Ridge, New York Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census. The town is located toward the eastern end of the county, bordered to the north and east by the town of Lewisboro, by Stamford, C ...

, in wealth and privilege. He is Jewish. His father is a cellphone technology entrepreneur, and his mother is an educator. He graduated

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

in 1997. He graduated

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 2001 with a major in government and competed in lightweight football.

Career

Military service

Iscol served two tours and fought in Iraq from 2001 to 2007 as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps,

3rd Battalion, 1st Marines 3rd Battalion 1st Marines (3/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed the "Thundering Third", the battalion consists of approximately 1,220 ...

. After returning from Iraq, he successfully lobbied to bring his threatened Iraqi translator to the United States. He returned to Iraq to make a film, '' The Western Front'', which was shown at the 2010

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

, and explored in what ways the US changed its tactics in Iraq over time. Iscol served as screenwriter, cast, director, and producer.

Private sector

Iscol launched the Headstrong Project in 2012. It is a New York City-based

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that provides veterans and their families in 25 cities with free

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

care. Iscol co-founded ''

Task & Purpose ''Task & Purpose'' is an American online publication founded in 2014 which covers the United States Armed Forces and the defense industry. They serve millions of readers monthly. History ''Task & Purpose'' was founded in 2014 by Zachary Iscol ...

'' in 2014. It is a military-focused

digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...

company. Its parent company is Grid North Group. In 2018

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

Adam Weinstein resigned after CEO Zachary Iscol requested that he change the title of a

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

investigation into undue influence over the

Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

featured on the site. Weinstein contended that Iscol strongly disagreed with both the title and the factual accuracy of the reporting done by ProPublica which Weinstein felt was undue influence on the publication's

editorial independence Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising clien ...

. Weinstein also said that this was not the first time that management, specifically Iscol, had interfered in the editorial process in an effort to make the publication appealing to more conservative readers. In 2014 Iscol also founded and became CEO of Hirepurpose, a hiring platform job website for military veterans and relatives.

Political career; mayoral and comptroller campaigns

Iscol served as a Deputy Director of a temporary field hospital in the Javits Center during the

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...

in the spring of 2020. Iscol was one of a number of candidates looking to succeed

New York City mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

. He launched his campaign in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary on October 21, 2020, and was initially entered in the June 22, 2021, Democratic primary. Iscol's campaign staff included

Joe Trippi Joseph Paul Trippi (born June 10, 1956) is an American political strategist who has worked on several gubernatorial, United States Senate, and Congressional campaigns, including Jerry Brown for Governor of California and Doug Jones for U.S. Sen ...

, a national political strategist. As of mid-January 2021, he had raised more than $746,000 from donors, spent just over $261,000 on his campaign, and had about $485,000 left. On January 26, 2021, Iscol filed paperwork to drop out of the mayor’s race, and run instead in the 2021 New York City Comptroller election. As of the end of January, he was the second-biggest fundraiser in the race. Iscol said his goal was to help the city recover economically from the pandemic, focusing on the performance of city agencies. He also said he would require companies that contract with New York City to describe their commitment to the five boroughs and that he would push to reinvest some pension fund monies in local job creation. Candidates who raised at least $125,000 from at least 500 donors qualified for matching city funds from the

New York City Campaign Finance Board The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) is an independent New York City agency that serves to provide campaign finance information to the public, enable more citizens to run for office by granting public matching funds, increase voter part ...

, on an 8-to-1 match basis. As of February 16, 2021, he was one of three candidates who had qualified for matching funds, along with

Brian Benjamin Brian A. Benjamin is an American politician and businessman who was lieutenant governor of New York from September 2021 until his resignation on April 12, 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 30th district in th ...

and

Brad Lander Bradford S. Lander (born July 8, 1969) is an American politician, urban planner, and community organizer who currently serves as the New York City Comptroller. A member of the Democratic Party, Lander is a progressive politician, and has been d ...

New York City Emergency Management

On February 17, 2022, Iscol was appointed commissioner of

by Mayor

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York C ...

References

External links

zachiscol.com"Zach Iscol, Veteran And Entrepreneur, Joins NYC Mayor’s Race,"
''

Hamodia ''Hamodia'' ( he, המודיע – "''the Informer''") is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israe ...

'', October 21, 2020.
"Meet the Mayoral Candidate: Zach Iscol,"
''

The Brian Lehrer Show Brian Lehrer (born October 5, 1952) is an American radio talk show host on New York City's public radio station WNYC. His daily two-hour 2007 Peabody Award-winning program,

'',

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

, January 19, 2021 (video)
"Decision NYC: Zach Iscol Discusses His Campaign,"
''

Gotham Gazette The ''Gotham Gazette'' is an online publication of the Citizens Union Foundation of the City of New York, a government watchdog group focusing on issues confronting New York City. Its purpose is fourfold: it reports daily on New York City news, ...

'', February 1, 2021 (video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Iscol, Zach 1978 births Living people New York (state) Democrats Candidates in the 2021 United States elections Writers from Manhattan Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Military personnel from New York City United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War 21st-century American screenwriters American documentary film producers 21st-century American politicians People from Pound Ridge, New York Cornell University alumni United States Marine Corps officers American documentary film directors American nonprofit chief executives Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Jewish American military personnel New York City Emergency Management