Akeem Jamal previously served as Deputy Communications Director for the City of Yonkers under Mayor Mike Spano.
In September 2019, while in that role, he was involved in a wrong-way DWI crash on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers. Driving northbound in the southbound lanes for over a mile around 4:47 a.m.,
Jamal collided head-on with another vehicle driven by Lawrence Patton, 53, of Wappingers Falls.
Both drivers suffered injuries; the other driver, Lawrence Patton, later claimed serious and permanent injuries (including a broken leg) in a civil lawsuit filed against Jamal and Jamal’s mother (who owned the vehicle).
Jamal was charged with DWI (BAC reported over 0.11%), reckless endangerment, third-degree assault, reckless driving, and driving in the wrong lane.
Jamal later served as Assistant Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs at the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC).
In April 2025, a New York State Inspector General report criticized the use of approximately $168,680 in taxpayer funds for online reputation management and SEO services overseen by Jamal and other executives.
The IG found the effort focused on suppressing negative press about the executives (including Jamal’s prior DWI crash) rather than promoting the public authority, raising ethics concerns.
Jamal subsequently was hired as Communications Officer for Yonkers Public Schools at a reported salary of $170,000 per year, but performed poorly in the position
Then Mayor Mike Spano appointed him as Assistant Deputy Mayor for the City of Yonkers.
Yonkers annual employee earnings reports and budget documents are the primary public sources for current compensation details - but no listing can be found for Akeem Jamal's newly created "Assistant Deputy Mayor for the City of Yonkers" job.
