Gary Jenkins resigning as NYC Mayor Adams’ Social Services commissioner after tumultuous tenure

City Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins announced Tuesday he’s stepping down from his post — months after coming under investigation over an alleged coverup of shelter system violations related to the local migrant crisis.

Jenkins, who was appointed by Mayor Adams just over a year ago, confirmed his resignation in an evening appearance on NY1 after the Daily News first reported he had informed staff of his exit earlier in the day.

He said his last day will be March 3 and that he’s leaving to “explore other opportunities that have been presented to me.” He did not elaborate on that, but stressed he isn’t stepping aside due to any controversy.

“This is something I was definitely already planning to do,” said Jenkins, who worked at the Department of Social Services for years in other capacities before becoming commissioner. “I’m really proud and privileged to serve under Mayor Eric Adams ... So, no, there’s no discord, no running away.”

Molly Park, one of Jenkins’ deputies, is expected to take over as acting commissioner as Adams looks for a permanent successor, mayoral spokesman Fabien Levy said.

Jenkins is the second Adams-appointed commissioner to resign since the mayor took office last year.

The first was Eric Ulrich, Adams’ former buildings commissioner, who stepped down in November after being interviewed in a federal investigation into illegal gambling. Ulrich has not been charged in that probe.

Jenkins’ resignation comes at a perilous time for his department — and as he remains under scrutiny in a personal capacity.

This past July, as hundreds of mostly Latin American migrants poured into the city every week from the U.S. southern border, Jenkins’ department failed to find shelter beds for several migrant families within a timeframe stipulated by the city’s right-to-shelter law. Adams admitted at the time that the slip-up violated the right-to-shelter law.

A month after that admission, the Department of Investigation launched a probe into Jenkins after Julia Savel, his former top spokeswoman, accused him of seeking to withhold information from Adams’ office and the public about the right-to-shelter violations.

Savel was fired after she says she raised alarm internally about Jenkins’ alleged attempts to cover up the violations. Jenkins and Adams have denied that Savel was terminated for blowing the whistle on any alleged right-to-shelter coverup.

In his NY1 appearance, Jenkins affirmed that Adams’ administration is committed to complying with the right-to-shelter law amid the migrant crisis.

“It’s the law, and we are going to follow the law, as we should and as we do,” he said.

The Department of Investigation has been tight-lipped about its Jenkins probe. However, a source briefed on the matter said Jenkins’ resignation comes as the department is expected to make the findings of its investigation public soon.

Department of Investigation spokeswoman Diane Struzzi said Tuesday evening that the Jenkins inquiry remains “ongoing,” but declined further comment.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Gary for his decades of service and wish him the very best in his next chapter,” Adams said in a statement, adding that Jenkins “brought his own experience living in a shelter as a child to the job, a unique understanding of the struggles families in shelters face.”

The Social Services Department, which oversees the city’s shelter system and safety net programs, has scrambled for months to house and provide services for the more than 44,000 asylum seekers who’ve arrived since last spring.

The shelter system’s population is at an all-time high, and Adams has repeatedly said the city is at “a breaking point” amid the migrant influx.

Nonetheless, Jenkins hasn’t taken on a public-facing role in the administration’s migrant response. He notably was not among a group of top city officials who appeared on the mayor’s new podcast this week to discuss the administration’s handling of the crisis.

Jenkins said Tuesday evening that the administration’s migrant response strategy has been “all hands on deck.”

“We need all parties to assist — we need our partners at the federal government, we need our state partners to really come in and assist,” he said on NY1.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams took Jenkins’ resignation announcement as an opportunity to renew his call for breaking up the Social Services Department so it is not tasked with overseeing both the shelter system and welfare initiatives, like the food stamp program.

“It should be clear that we cannot continue the structure of the past several years, which has largely failed New Yorkers most in need, regardless of who is in leadership roles,” Williams said.