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City Hall denies existence of priority inspections list favoring big developers, despite evidence
By
Elizabeth Kim
and
David Brand
Published Dec 5, 2023
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Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Kim
and
David Brand
Published Dec 5, 2023
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Mayor Eric Adams and his top deputies on Tuesday doubled down on denying city officials used a list of prioritized projects to help well-connected developers bypass a deep backlog of fire safety inspections, despite documents and emails reported by Gothamist.
Adams is facing scrutiny over his administration’s use of the priority list to favor firms with access to City Hall after the list emerged as part of a federal probe into his campaign fundraising tactics. As Gothamist reported Sunday, officials from the mayor’s office ordered fire inspectors to expedite work at the 50 Hudson Yards office complex owned by The Related Companies last year, even when that meant canceling appointments scheduled months in advance for two schools and various apartment buildings.
Neither Adams nor his campaign have been accused of wrongdoing in the ongoing federal investigation. On Tuesday, he attributed the reporting on the priority list to “disgruntled” fire officials — a likely reference to a group of demoted fire chiefs who described the document in a lawsuit claiming they were sidelined after speaking out about VIP treatment for “friends” of City Hall, among other issues.
“There appears to be a very angry individual trying to send these emails all over the city,” Adams told reporters during his weekly press conference.
The mayor said he is committed to speeding up bureaucratic processes across the board — not on behalf of big developers and corporations — and pointed to his administration’s attempts to fill empty office buildings.
“It is a constant navigation of the landscape to move the pieces so that we can effectively have what is our holistic approach to recovering our economy,” he said, noting the city faces a "crisis in office spaces."
Jim Walden, an attorney representing the fire chiefs in their lawsuit, has accused City Hall of lying about blatant favoritism on behalf of developers. His clients said the list was originally intended to speed up inspections for small businesses but it quickly took on a different function.
“What's not appropriate is to cherry-pick wealthy people [who] happen to be campaign contributors and say, ‘We're going to bump them up the list,’” Walden said. “The projects that got bumped off the list were schools and retail establishments and people's private homes.”
The remarks by Adams and other officials were the clearest acknowledgement to date that City Hall has intervened on behalf of certain projects, although the administration has repeatedly denied a list of these projects circulated between City Hall and the FDNY.
But a trove of internal documents and emails obtained by Gothamist reveal how the roster evolved from a tool for expediting inspections at small businesses, schools, shelters and affordable housing sites into a mechanism for ushering some of the city’s most prominent developers and firms to the front of the inspections line.
A series of April 2022 emails describes how an order to fast-track inspections at the 50 Hudson Yards office tower came as a “top priority from City Hall” and forced fire officials to cancel appointments at at least 12 other locations. The office tower failed its inspections, leading high-ranking officials to help the project again jump the line a month later, the emails show.
City officials say the FDNY has cut down its average inspection timeline to about 14 weeks from 18 weeks in the current fiscal year. A lengthy inspection backlog hampers the openings of new businesses and housing, leading to mounting debts and long waits for move-ins.
One version of the priority list from May 2022 names Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer as a City Hall “source” of the plan to expedite the 50 Hudson Yards review, along with Dermot Shea, the former NYPD commissioner who now serves as president of Related Commercial Management Company. But on Tuesday, she said such a list does not exist and that her job is to address bureaucratic slowdowns at a systemic level.
“A day that an office building stays empty is another day that you don't get those workers into their offices,” Torres-Springer said. “Workers who commute into central business districts and spend money at the local bodega, at the local dry cleaner, or any other small business.”
She also touted her long career in city government under several administrations, culminating in her appointment as Adams’ deputy mayor for housing, economic development and workforce.
“You don't get to do that role by cutting corners,” she said. “You get to this point because you fight for New Yorkers — everyone who I just mentioned, who comes to you with a problem. That is what we do.”
Tagged
fdny
developers
related companies
new york city
eric adams
inspections
construction
maria torres
economic development
hudson yards
Politics
real estate
City hall
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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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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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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