Sitting in a small conference room in City Hall, special counsel Henry Berger beamed talking about his decision to leave the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, which takes effect on July 28.

Not so much the act of leaving itself—though his immediate upcoming plans include a weeklong bike ride across parts of Spain, which he was understandably relishing. Rather, Berger, who’s been de Blasio’s special counsel since shortly after he took office in 2013, expressed great satisfaction at being able to participate in what he calls the transformational nature of de Blasio’s mayoralty.