Julie Menin has been selected as New York City Film Czar.
Per media reports, Mayor Bill de Blasio chose her on Tuesday to succeed Cynthia Lopez, who left the post this past fall. Lopez had only even been there since the spring of 2014, when she succeeded Katherine Oliver, Mayor Bloomberg’s czar.
Between Lopez and Menin, First Deputy Commissioner Luis Castro served as acting commissioner.
Menin is currently commissioner of New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. As the agency’s chief, Menin manages a staff of nearly 450 and a budget of more than $40 million.
The lawyer began her career in 1992 as a regulatory attorney at Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington D.C., and worked as senior regulatory attorney at Colgate-Palmolive in New York City. During that phase of her eclectic career, Menin specialized in consumer protection issues, including matters before the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice.
A woman who wears many hats, in 1999 Menin opened and operated Vine, a restaurant, market and catering operation in lower Manhattan.