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Dear New Yorkers,

On the morning of Feb. 3, 2022, in the early days of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, an executive at Sprague Operating Resources, a national fuel oil company, got a surprise email from the City of New York.

Sprague believed they had a draft multi-million dollar contract in hand to provide the entire city government heavy-duty vehicle fleet with renewable diesel — powering everything from sanitation rigs to police tow trucks. Bidding for the contract was already closed.

But to their surprise, a Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) bureaucrat informed them that the agency had been approached by another vendor — and that DCAS would soon reopen the bidding.

What the bureaucrat did not mention was that the CEO of that other vendor, Approved Oil of Brooklyn, was a three-time donor to Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign.

Or that Approved Oil had hired a politically wired law firm that advises Adams’ campaign to lobby his administration to try and procure contracts from the city.

Approved Oil won the day: DCAS awarded the company a $91 million, two-year contract through a non-competitive process called “negotiated acquisition” to provide the city fleet with renewable diesel.

Read more about how it went down here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday's Weather Rating: 2/10. Oof. Cloudy and humid with periods of rain expected for most of the day. Rain could be heavy at times and localized flooding is possible, too. The system clears out after sunset. The vibes are … not good.

Our Other Top Stories

Yesterday, the MTA’s board approved congestion pricing for parts of Manhattan. The vote of approval was expected, but the toll plan still faces speed bumps in the form of lawsuits. Most motorists will pay $15 once-a-day  inside the congestion zone, below 60th Street. Some emergency vehicles and those carrying people with disabilities will be exempt — as will school and commuter buses, licensed commuter vans and some government vehicles. A million of the city’s apartments are rent-regulated. But who exactly regulates those rents, and how? The answer is the Rent Guidelines Board, a panel of nine people — all appointed by the mayor — who evaluate and decide where rent increases should land each year. The board takes a final vote in June. Here’s THE CITY’s guide to how the board decides how much is too much for tenants to pay. The city’s Conflicts of Interest Board is tweaking some of its reporting requirements in an effort to get a better understanding of which public servants have “substantial” influence over policy. The aim of the decades-old list is to tamp down political corruption and prevent civil servants from being swayed by partisan concerns. (And although the proposal came days after THE CITY’s story on mayoral aide Winnie Greco being added to the list, the changes were first floated at a board meeting in August.)

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, March 28: The New York Public Library’s March Book Club event, featuring “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” author Xochitl Gonzalez. Free from 6 to 7 p.m. online and in-person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Manhattan. Saturday, March 30: Activists on Screen: Queer Gaze in Cinema, a pair of films followed by a conversation about trans New Yorkers’ lives. Tickets are $10 ($5 for members), at 3 p.m. at the Museum of the City of New York. Saturday, March 30: Let's Go Birding Together, an inclusive event for all levels of curiosity and expertise, hosted by NYC Audubon. Free from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island Park.

THE KICKER: Here’s why NYC apartments are so dusty, according to reporting by Curbed.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.

Love,

THE CITY

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