Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

lorelei salas

lorelei salas

  • Take a Stand for Workers’ Rights on May Day and Every Day

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    DCA Commissioner Lorelei Salas, the author


    Sitting in front of more than 150 people, Maria Aguilar broke down in tears as she shared how often she experiences discrimination and abuse at the hands of her employers. Maria is a day laborer at “La Parada,” a street corner in Williamsburg where every day she waits and hopes for the chance to be picked up by someone looking for last-minute child care or housekeeping services. Maria is almost always a victim of wage theft and despite working long days and weeks she does not get paid minimum wage, let alone the overtime wages she is

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  • New Consumer Affairs Commissioner Inherits Robust Agency and Big Challenges

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    Salas accepting a pen from the mayor at a bill signing ceremony (photo via @NYCDCA)


    When Lorelei Salas was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs by Mayor Bill de Blasio in May, she inherited a dramatically better-funded and more heavily staffed agency than her predecessor, Julie Menin, did when she took office in 2014.

    New York City’s DCA is the nation’s largest municipal consumer protection agency, tasked with licensing businesses, monitoring predatory business practices, redressing consumer grievances and enforcing various municipal benefits,

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