A top City Council member was furious on Tuesday, saying a lucrative lease agreement approved by the city’s top real estate official reeked of “corruption” as Mayor Eric Adams said the deal in question would be reviewed.
Jesse Hamilton, a former state senator and longtime friend of Adams, was absent from a hearing convened by Councilman Lincoln Ressler over management of the city’s $1.5 billion rental portfolio, which was also attended by the Manhattan District Attorney. He is under investigation by the Bureau.
Instead, Luis Molina, the new director of the Citywide Office of Administrative Services, faces intense scrutiny from Ressler, who asks why Hamilton should cancel the city’s Office on Aging lease and replace it with another building at 14 Wall Street. He questioned whether the property had been transferred to another building. A billionaire who is a donor to the mayor.
“Unfortunately, DCAS appears to be facing another major corruption scandal,” Ressler charged.
Jesse Hamilton is under surveillance by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. AP
Molina told Ressler that he had no plans to review the agreement, but that claim was quickly reversed by Adams, and Vice Mayor Maria Torres Springer reviewed the agreement at a near-simultaneous press conference at City Hall. Then he said.
“She’s going to do a complete review and hammer out some of the changes that we need to make,” the mayor said.
The controversial City Council hearing led to Politico’s last week’s allegation that Hamilton, DCAS’ deputy director for real estate, overrode the formal bidding process that awarded the contract to move the Department of Aging to 250 Broadway, across from City Hall. This was carried out following the report.
Hamilton instead directed the contract to 14 Wall St., a building owned by real estate investor and Adams donor Alexander Lobto, the report said.
The lease revelations added to the questions swirling around Mr. Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton recently had his cellphone confiscated by Manhattan Attorney General’s Office officials after returning from a trip to Japan with Mayoral Advisor Ingrid Lewis Martin.
Hamilton and Lewis Martin were also accompanied on the trip by a broker from Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm handling the deal with DCAS.
Mayor Eric Adams, a longtime friend of Ms. Hamilton, said City Hall would review the lease agreement. Andrew Schwartz/SplashNews.com
Mr. Ressler opened the hearing with a series of questions about Hamilton’s role and actions.
“Why would the mayor put in office a completely unqualified political ally with the power to direct the city’s $1.5 billion rental portfolio?” he said. “Why did Mr. Hamilton undermine the contracting process by penalizing qualified bidders and rewarding mayoral campaign donors? And why did Mr. Hamilton undermine the contracting process by punishing qualified bidders and rewarding mayoral campaign donors? Did he go on vacation to Japan with other real estate executives who benefited from DCAS real estate deals?
Asked why Hamilton did not appear at the hearing, Molina said Hamilton was responsible for the agency. He has been on the job for about 90 days and previously served as corrections commissioner.
He argued that the Department on Aging contract gave Hamilton a better deal for taxpayers.
“At the end of the day, 14 Wall Street was more than $31 million cheaper,” Molina testified.
Ressler called for a review of Hamilton’s deal.
“It is concerning that Deputy Commissioner Hamilton’s decision has not been comprehensively reviewed, that no guardrails have been imposed, and that the mandate has not changed,” he said.
