WORLD WORLDWIDE USA New York NY New York City NYC the city THE CITY News Journal Update - THE CITY SCOOP: Adams Campaign Repeatedly Ignored Regulators’ Demands to Identify Supporters Behind $300,000 in Contributions

 

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If you know anyone who might like this newsletter, send it to them. If this was sent to you by someone else, subscribe here — it's free!  Dear New Yorkers, Eric Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign repeatedly ignored city regulators’ requests to identify political supporters suspected of raising more than $300,000 in donations without disclosing their role. That’s according to Campaign Finance Board records obtained by THE CITY.  Thanks to a program that provides matching funds of up to eight-to-one for eligible contributions, the donations secured an additional $522,000 in public funds for the Adams campaign. The disclosures pressed for by the board are required under longtime city campaign finance laws, which aim to provide transparency to voters about the identity of bundlers, who often seek to gain clout with elected officials by collecting contributions that mushroom with public matching dollars. That transparency didn’t happen.  The board repeatedly asked the Adams campaign about a cluster of donations from EcoSafety employees — a request that went unanswered.  Then this July, the Manhattan District Attorney filed an indictment alleging that donations from that cluster were part of a larger conspiracy to use falsified contributions to trigger matching funds in an effort to “gain an advantage” with Adams.  Read more here. Editor’s Note Many of you may have seen the news that THE CITY is facing some hard times, and that we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce hours and pay in order to keep our journalism firing. We’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support in the past 24 hours — including from new and recommitted donors. As always, we welcome your financial contribution, no matter what size. Monthly donations are the most helpful: their reliability lets us plan for the future. But money isn’t the only way you can help. We’re a young organization, and while our journalism has changed outcomes for so many New Yorkers, a lot of people still don’t know who we are. As a SCOOP subscriber, we hope you’ve come to rely on getting our hard-hitting investigations and helpful explainers in your inbox every morning.  Maybe you know someone else who would, too. Send this email around and encourage fellow New Yorkers to subscribe — it’s free. Share our work, here’s something that might be useful right now for every New Yorker. Tell people about us wherever you meet them and send them to our homepage: www.thecity.nyc. It all helps.    — Richard Kim Editor-in-Chief, THE CITY In other news: Adams Pushes a ‘Little’ More Housing  City Hall has a new plan to address the housing crisis. The proposals from Mayor Eric Adams include removing a requirement that new apartment buildings must include parking spaces, he announced Thursday.  The mayor also wants to allow so-called accessory dwelling units — small, livable structures of up to 800 square feet also known as “granny flats” and “tiny houses,” — in backyards and other empty spaces around one-and two-family homes.  The zoning reforms and plan to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood,” in the words of Department of City Planning director Dan Garodnick, could add 100,000 homes over 15 years, the city estimates.  That includes letting building owners add 20% more housing to existing or yet-to-be-built structures as long as the units are “affordable” — and making it easier to build apartments within older office buildings in commercial corridors.  — Katie Honan Some other items of note: The circle of corruption allegations surrounding mayoral advisor Eric Ulrich continues to grow. THE CITY has found that Michael Mazzio, co-owner of Mike’s Heavy Duty Towing, was indicted on corruption and collusion charges in 2018 — long before he was busted again for allegedly bribing Ulrich —  and before he sat down for pizza with mayor-elect Adams in December 2021. The charges against him detail the rough world of highway towing in the city; his lawyer says Mazzio intends to plead not guilty when he’s arraigned on the new bribery charges today. The federal Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday night that the U.S. would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to just under half a million Venezuelan migrants who have been living in the U.S. prior to July 31. The designation grants those who crossed the border without legal documentation the right to obtain work permits and to live in the U.S. without fear of deportation. The move was widely celebrated by migrants currently living in New York City’s temporary shelters — even as advocates and experts caution that relief will not be immediate. The city has hit another delay in meeting a mandate to make half of the yellow taxi fleet wheelchair-accessible by 2020. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has been struggling to meet a court-ordered quota of vehicles capable of carrying wheelchairs and motorized scooters for a decade — and is still coming up short. Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Friday's Weather Rating: 8/10. High temperatures in the mid 70s, comfortable dew points and sunshine get us off to a great start today! You'll notice some clouds and humidity moving in tonight ahead of a system that will cause lots of trouble this weekend. Still, the vibes are very good for now! Things To Do Here’s what’s going on around the city this week. Friday, Sept. 22: Climate Week NYC, which runs through Sunday, Sept. 24 with rallies, talks, workshops and more. Registration required for some events. Free. Friday, Sept. 22: Bushwick Open Studios, a three-day event spotlighting art in many mediums at galleries, bars, studios, street corners, parks and more. 12 to 11 p.m. through Sunday, Sept. 24. Free. Saturday, Sept. 23: GreenThumb’s 44th Annual Harvest Fair, with live music, fun activities and environmental programming. El Jardin del Paraiso in Manhattan, noon to 4 p.m. Free. THE KICKER: New Yorkers are used to seeing people walk dogs in the park, but how about a tortoise?  Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Friday. Love, THE CITY P.S. Love THE CITY? Our nonprofit newsroom runs on support from readers like you. Donate here.

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