Zohran Mamdani mulls tapping Bill de Blasio’s controversial homeless services chief as NYC’s top lawyer

A self-described “social justice attorney” who served as former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s homeless services boss is a contender to be the city’s top lawyer in Zohran Mamdani’s administration, The Post has learned.

Steven Banks – who fought Mayor Eric Adams’ bid to?roll back the city’s “right to shelter” protections?during the migrant crisis – has emerged as the front-runner for the gig, but it’s not a done deal, insiders said.

The socialist mayor-elect is being coaxed to appoint Banks as corporation counsel leading the city’s Law Department, sources revealed.

“Mamdani (is) being pushed to make him corp counsel,” one source said.

Banks made his bones as a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, where he often clashed with city officials in court to create and expand the Big Apple’s unique and controversial “right to shelter” law that guarantees a bed for anyone without a place to live.

His tenacity eventually landed him a role in de Blasio’s administration as commissioner for the Department of Social Services.

As commissioner of the largest social services agency in the US, Banks managed 16,000 staffers serving more than 3 million residents per year with an annual budget of $12 billion.

But he faced criticism over financial scandals and horrid conditions at key not-for-profit homeless shelters with which his agency contracted.

Then-city Comptroller Scott Stringer issued scathing audits of bloated costs, misspending and horrid conditions at the city’s homeless shelters under Banks’ watch.

A judge in 2020 placed one embattled Big Apple shelter operator in receivership — after its offices were raided in connection with a billing scheme that allegedly scammed the city out of millions.

Prior to that action, The Post reported that the homeless-shelter nonprofit, Children Community Services Inc., landed $500 million in city contracts despite providing space that endangered small children.

The rooms allegedly had damaged cribs, lacked child-proof outlet covers and failed to offer written instructions on safety issues for residents.

“There are 60,000 people in our homeless shelters, including over 22,000 children — they deserve better,” Stringer said at the time.

Stringer also said costs for homeless services skyrocketed by 138% during de Blasio years, or $3.5 billion, though he pinned part of the spike on the COVID-19 pandemic.

After exiting the mayor’s office with de Blasio in 2021, Banks returned to his comfort zone: a thorn in the side of city government.

Banks stood in Manhattan court in 2024 as he worked alongside his former employer, Legal Aid, to work out a settlement after Adams pushed to roll back the “right of shelter” guarantee as hundreds of thousands of migrants flowed into the city.

The dispute ended a deal to let the Big Apple limit whether a single adult migrant can reapply for shelter after their 30-day stay expires, but ultimately left the city on the hook for housing asylum seekers.

The “right to shelter” guarantee remains intact, in large part because of Banks’ legal work.

Banks was also involved with suing the city for $48 million on behalf of Pablo Fernandez in state’s Court of Claims. Fernandez was falsely imprisoned for 24 years and was released in 2019. 

Earlier this year, Banks stepped down as “special counsel” at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

He now lists himself as a “public interest social justice attorney” on his LinkedIn page.

The Mamdani transition declined to comment, as did Banks.

The Law Department represents city agencies, the mayor and other elected officials in litigation, as well as juvenile delinquency proceedings brought in Family Court and code enforcement proceedings brought in Criminal Court.

Hiring Banks for the top post would be another example of Mamdani plucking a de Blasio alum to join his administration.

On Monday, the mayor-elect appointed Dean Fuleihan as his first deputy mayor. Fuleihan also served as de Blasio’s budget director and later as first deputy mayor.

Mamdani’s transition team is also stacked with government vets who worked in the de Blasio and other mayoral administrations.

– Additional reporting by Ben Kochman and Peter Senzamici