CB1 Questions Deal for FiDi Office Space Negotiated by Adams Official
Community Board 1 (CB1) has reconsidered its recent endorsement of a plan by the administration of Mayor Eric Adams to lease 80,000 square feet of office space in the Financial District for a municipal agency, based on possible ethical concerns. This controversy began when the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), which handles real estate transactions for other Mayoral agencies, decided to rent three floors of the historic office building located at 14 Wall Street to house the City’s Department for the Aging (DFTA). That agency is preparing to relocate from its current headquarters at Two Lafayette Street.
The legal process for such a move requires the local community board to weigh in. In a resolution enacted at its September 24 meeting, CB1 took issue with some of the reasoning behind the plan. In particular, the measure cited DCAS’s Description of Project Area filing, which erroneously states, ‘Since 14 Wall Street is so close to the epicenter of Manhattan’s Financial District, it is largely surrounded by commercial and office buildings over ground-level retail.’” CB1 observed that the transformation of Lower Manhattan into a residential neighborhood, a process that has been underway for more than 30 years, has translated into half a dozen large residential buildings steps away from the front door of 14 Wall Street, containing more than 2,600 households. CB1’s resolution added, “the notice’s inaccurate ‘Description of Project Area’ perpetuates DCAS’s and other City agencies’ continued misapprehension of the substantial, established residential population in CB1, particularly in the Financial District.”
Even in light of these caveats, the Board somewhat grudgingly endorsed the plan, noting in the resolution, “CB1 does not object to DFTA’s acquisition of approximately 80,000 square feet of office space on the 11th, 12th, and 14th Floors at 14 Wall Street.”
Three days later, however, Jesse Hamilton (right), DCAS’s Deputy Commissioner for Real Estate Services was stopped by investigators from the office of the Manhattan District Attorney as he disembarked from a plane at Kennedy Airport, returning from a vacation in Japan on which he was accompanied by a real estate broker who represents commercial landlords in lease negotiations with DCAS. Several other City officials were also on this trip. Mr. Hamilton, the DCAS official responsible for representing the City in real estate transactions, oversaw the deal to bring DFTA to 14 Wall Street. In what has become a pattern in the scandals and investigations that have engulfed the administration of Mayor Adams, Mr. Hamilton’s phone was confiscated, presumably because law enforcement officials are interested in reviewing his emails and text messages.
Mr. Hamilton is a longtime protege of Mr. Adams, a relationship that stretches back to at least 2014, when the former was elected to the State Senate seat (representing the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn) once held by the latter, after Mr. Adams had moved up to become Brooklyn Borough President. As has been previously reported by Crain’s, Mr. Hamilton first attracted ethical concerns in 2018, when he was found to be using space in a building set aside for low-income housing (which was controlled by a nonprofit community group that he managed) for a campaign headquarters and political clubhouse. Mr. Hamilton lost his 2018 bid for reelection to the State Senate, but shortly after Mr. Adams was elected to City Hall in 2021, he appointed Mr. Hamilton as the legal counsel at DCAS. A few months later, Mr. Hamilton was promoted to Deputy Commissioner, scoring a $24,000 per year raise. This position gave him broad discretion to negotiate deals for City agencies renting space in commercial buildings.
The broker who accompanied Mr. Hamilton on his trip to Japan was Diane Boutross, an executive with the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, which is one of only two firms that represent building owners when they negotiate leases with the City government agencies seeking to rent space. At Cushman & Wakefield, Ms. Boutross oversees negotiations in which Mr. Hamilton is the City’s representative. Ms. Boutross’s phone was also seized by investigators from the District Attorney’s office, as she exited the same plane at Kennedy airport.
On October 15, CB1 sent a letter to the City Planning Commission (which has ultimate authority to approve to deal that would bring DFTA to 14 Wall Street), revising the position outlined in its September 24 resolution. Board chair Tammy Meltzer wrote that events after the resolution’s enactment had cast the CB1’s endorsement of the plan in a new light, and “raise concerns that this transaction might not be in the best interest of the City.” She added, “CB1 feels compelled to bring this to your attention before final decisions are made… because the process behind this decision warrants additional scrutiny [due to] an ongoing law enforcement investigation regarding potential conflicts of interest related to DCAS lease agreements.”
“While CB1 did not oppose the need for DFTA to relocate,” she continued, “we are deeply troubled [that decisions] could have been influenced by individual personal gain,” and asked for assurances that the plan is “a prudent use of public funds and not a benefit to select private parties.”
After calling for an investigation in the plan, the letter concludes, “given the gravity of the recent reports, we believe it is critical that these concerns be addressed prior to moving forward with this lease.”
A spokesman for DCAS did not respond to a request for comment.