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Former NYC buildings boss kept Adams' favored restaurant open despite health violations
By
David Brand
Published Oct 27, 2026 at 4:24 p.m. ET
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David Brand/Gothamist
By
David Brand
Published Oct 27, 2026 at 4:24 p.m. ET
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It was Valentine’s Day 2022 and the owners of Queens pizzeria Aldo’s had a problem.
A city health inspector had just shut the Ozone Park restaurant down during the evening rush after discovering hundreds of mouse droppings, unrefrigerated calamari and other violations.
But owners Anthony and Joseph Livreri had connections in the highest echelons of City Hall. Their shop was a popular hangout for Eric Adams during his mayoral campaign, and the Livreris were also close with Adams’ new special adviser, the former three-term Councilmember Eric Ulrich.
Ulrich is now on trial on bribery and corruption charges from his short stint as Adams’ special adviser and buildings commissioner. Recordings of phone calls played in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday reveal exactly how the Livreris put their ties to use. The conversations open a window into how politically connected business owners could bypass typical bureaucratic obstacles during the Adams administration.
A health inspector was still at the pizzeria when Anthony Livreri called Ulrich and asked for a hand, according to a recorded phone call played in court.
“My nerves are shot, bro,” Livreri said in the call. “Please, Eric, I just need your help.”
Within an hour, call logs show, Ulrich was on the phone with another high-ranking city official. He called Fred Kreizman, the commissioner of the mayor's community affairs unit, to intervene.
“One of the mayor's favorite restaurants in Queens got shut down tonight by the Board of Health,” Ulrich told Kreizman in a recorded phone call.
Kreizman told Ulrich he was busy diffusing “almost a riot” in Crown Heights – allegations of deed theft had drawn state Attorney General Letitia James to the neighborhood. Kriezman instead dispatched his Chief of Staff Connor Martinez to handle the matter.
The next day, Joseph Livreri called Ulrich to thank him for his intervention. Martinez, he said, had agreed to expedite a reinspection that would allow Aldo’s to reopen.
During the call, Ulrich had a request of his own. He asked Livreri to send him $300 that he could then forward to a woman named Marietta who he said needed money, according to a call played in court. It’s unclear from court proceedings who “Marietta” is and what her relationship was with Ulrich.
Livreri agreed to send the cash. “Everybody falls behind [on] their bills,” he told Ulrich in the recorded call.
Manhattan prosecutors pointed to a financial transaction showing Livreri sent Ulrich the $300 10 minutes later.
Joseph Livreri again called Ulrich the next day to say the health department still had not permitted Aldo’s to reopen, according to another recording played in court.
Ulrich responded that he had called Martinez “and I told him this is the mayor’s favorite f---ing restaurant in Queens.” He then put Joseph Livreri on the phone with Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams' chief adviser, who agreed to help reopen the restaurant.
Prosecutors say the pizzeria was allowed to reopen by the end of the same week that health inspectors shut it down.
Ulrich is charged with taking bribes in exchange for helping expedite inspections and other building approvals while working for Adams. He has denied any wrongdoing, and his attorney David Jason Cohen says he was merely assisting constituents with navigating complicated city agencies. Cohen said Ulrich did take money from associates to fuel a gambling addiction, but did not trade favors for cash.
Joseph and Anthony Livreri both pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges last month. They told Manhattan Judge Daniel Conviser that they also gave Ulrich $4,000 for help lifting a vacate order at a Brooklyn bakery, a claim Ulrich also denies.
During opening statements, Manhattan prosecutor Guy Tardanico said he plans to call on Martinez to testify that Ulrich pressured him to fast-track the safety inspection at Aldo's after the pizzeria was shut down over the mice droppings and calamari.
Martinez declined to comment when contacted by Gothamist last week.
Ulrich was initially arrested in September 2023. He is the first member of the Adams administration to face trial for his alleged crimes among a slew of other former staff members accused of wrongdoing in separate criminal cases.
In multiple other calls played in court on Tuesday, Ulrich described, often using colorful language, just how exasperated he was with the Livreris’ request for help lifting the health department’s order.
He openly grumbled about their pleas in multiple phone calls with his co-defendant Michael Mazzio and said he could be investigated for trying to intervene on their behalf.
“They want me to f---ing break the rules all the time. I can't get involved in that,” Ulrich said in the call played in court. “I could lose my job.”
In a separate phone call with George Russo, another friend of Ulrich’s and a local restaurant owner, Ulrich criticized the Livreris for not taking better care of their pizzeria.
“Get a f---ing exterminator and figure it out,” Ulrich said.
Russo suggested that Ulrich could help by requesting a speedy reinspection.
But, Russo said, "Getting shut down is really egregious.”
Tagged
eric adams
new york city
public safety
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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