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After latest NYC real estate controversy, councilmember calls for fresh look at city brokers
By
David Brand
Published Jan 9, 2025
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Photo by Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
By
David Brand
Published Jan 9, 2025
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A New York City councilmember is demanding reform after a close ally of Mayor Eric Adams was accused in a lawsuit this week of pressuring a real estate brokerage to put the ally’s friend in charge of a “highly lucrative" city account.
Councilmember Lincoln Restler of Brooklyn, who chairs the City Council’s government operations committee, said the city should look for new brokers to handle its real estate deals in light of multiple controversies involving the transactions.
His demand comes after a lawsuit filed on Monday accused Jesse Hamilton, a Department of Citywide Administrative Services official, of urging the firm Cushman & Wakefield to give the account to his friend, who then allegedly cut a former business partner out of deals potentially worth millions of dollars.
The brokerage JRT Realty Group sued Cushman & Wakefield, with whom it had partnered as a subcontractor for two decades. JRT’s status as a woman-owned firm allowed Cushman to obtain contracts with diversity requirements. But the lawsuit claims Cushman sidelined JRT and attempted to “destroy” its reputation after Hamilton asked them to give the city’s account to Diana Boutross.
The city’s agreement with Cushman & Wakefield, one of two firms handling its commercial real estate deals, expired on Nov. 19, 2024, according to city contract data. DCAS has not yet requested bids for a new contract.
Restler said the city should seek new brokers expeditiously, and bar Hamilton from participating in the process.
“The new contract should set transparent and explicit standards for expertise required,” along with goals for hiring minority- and women-owned businesses, known as MWBEs, “to end the corruption involving the Adams administration and its cronies,” Restler said.
In response to an inquiry, JRT attorney Carmine Castellano pointed to the text of the lawsuit, but said the city “should rebid the contract.”
In an emailed statement, Cushman & Wakefield spokesperson Michael Boonshoft said “any change in our work with JRT was driven by the city’s amended requirements for working with MWBE businesses, as well as other legitimate commercial reasons.”
Boonshoft did not respond to a question about whether the accusations could affect Cushman’s future city contracts.
A DCAS spokesperson said the agency expects to issue a request for contract proposals from brokerages later this year. Agency spokespeople declined to comment on the substance of JRT’s complaint.
It accuses Cushman of attempting to “eliminate JRT as competition in the upcoming procurement process for the new contract.”
The lawsuit also claims Cushman sought to monopolize commissions on city leases or purchases, including a plan to acquire a 1.3-million-square-foot warehouse facility in the Bronx. Hamilton has faced scrutiny for appearing in a promotional video for the facility while the city was negotiating to lease or buy it, in a deal that could have resulted in a potential $13.4 million commission for Boutross.
The suit represents the latest controversy involving Hamilton and his dealings as head of city real estate.
Investigators from the Manhattan district attorney’s office confronted Hamilton and seized his phone in October 2024 after he returned from a trip to Japan with Boutross and other associates, including former top mayoral advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin.
Beyond the Bronx warehouse plans, Hamilton and DCAS have faced questions about nixing an office agreement for the city’s Department for the Aging and instead renting space from a billionaire Adams donor.
Hamilton and Boutross did not respond to phone calls and messages seeking comment.
Tagged
new york city
housing
Lincoln Restler
economy
Politics
eric adams
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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