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CityAndStateNY.com
October 17, 2016
Haley E. Rubinson STRATEGIST, TUSK STRATEGIES
Birthday: 3/3
Where did you go to college? University of Maryland, College Park If you didn’t work in politics/ government, what would you do? Prizefighter
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ROM SANDY CLEANUP to bike lane expansion to helping lead the charge against Bill de Blasio’s re-election, Haley Rubinson has been part of some of the most visible campaigns around New York City. She made her name in government at the city Department of Transportation during Mayor Bloomberg’s second term. It was perfect timing, and as she tells it, “really amazing to be there at this time when the agency really ushered through transformative change to the public space.” Rubinson’s fortune continued from there. “I feel lucky every day, but I just hit this series of really interesting short-term opportunities,” she says. That includes time spent coordinating cleanup after Sandy with the Mayor’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency and then the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. Rubinson left the public sector last year but says she’s proud of every day she spent there, “because I really am a believer in government and its potential to make lives better.” Now at Tusk Strategies, Rubinson uses her public-sector experience to lead campaigns for clients and, of course, to challengers to de Blasio with NYC Deserves Better. That campaign is outside of her usual duties, but “it’s something that I believe in and I agree with,” Rubinson says, “so I’m happy to volunteer.” She may be a rising star, but she fears City Hall is fading. “My hope for local government is that it maintains that high standard, at least in New York City, that we’ve had for so long.”