Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. suggested in a talk at Yale on Friday that he is being tapped for a top post in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, the News has learned.

Speaking at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, Carrion said he had been notified by the Obama administration earlier that day that he had been selected. He prefaced his comments by telling attendees they were “off the record” and did not specify for which position he had been chosen, ten students who were in attendance confirmed.

“He said he was in consideration for a number of cabinet positions and that he ‘got the call’ indicating he was selected,” one student said.

Another student said Carrion told some attendees in a conversation before the lecture that as he was heading to dinner in advance of the Slifka event, he received a congratulatory phone call from Sen. Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 of New York, whom Obama has nominated to be secretary of state.

Carrion, who was elected Bronx borough president in 2001 and re-elected in 2005, had been rumored as a potential candidate to be secretary of housing and urban development. The New York Times reported last month that he was under consideration for a cabinet post and had met with officials from Obama’s transition team about the possibility of serving in his administration.

According to students in attendance, Carrion said that he was under consideration to head the Small Business Administration as well as the departments of housing and urban development; transportation; and education.

Carrion’s remarks came in a question-and-answer session after he delivered a lecture on the topic of Latino-Jewish relations. The event was sponsored by Yale Hillel and La Casa Cultural.

Representatives for Carrion and the Obama transition team did not immediately respond to telephone messages Sunday.

—Rustin Fakheri contributed reporting.

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