Adams Administration Official Jesse Hamilton Has Phone Seized

State investigators have seized the phone of the Adams administration official who oversees the city’s commercial real estate portfolio.

Jesse Hamilton, deputy commissioner of real estate at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, had his cell phone taken away last week at John F. Kennedy International Airport, as he was returning from vacation in Japan, the New York Daily News reports.

At the time, authorities also seized the phone of the mayor’s chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, who was also on the trip as was Cushman & Wakefield broker Diana Boutross. It is not clear if her phone was also seized.

A bio of Boutross posted on GlobeSt says she “worked extensively with New York City Mayor Eric Adams to help facilitate development of underprivileged areas and serves as a resource for local lawmakers” on commercial real estate matters.

Politico reports that Lewis-Martin’s public schedule from 2022 and 2023 showed meetings with Boutross.

Hamilton joins the growing circle of administration officials whose phones have been targeted in ongoing state and federal investigations. This week, during a hearing connected to federal corruption charges brought last week against Mayor Eric Adams, prosecutors reportedly indicated that more charges against Adams were possible and that charges against others were “likely.”

Hamilton, a longtime friend and political mentee of the mayor, joined DCAS in August 2022 as the agency’s legal counsel, and swiftly rose through the ranks to the deputy commissioner role a few months later. His $24,000 pay bump at the time raised eyebrows.

As deputy commissioner, Hamilton coordinates city agencies’ real estate needs and arranges for agencies to lease space from private landlords when needed, according to the DCAS webpage.

Hamilton’s real estate dealings have previously raised ethical questions. In 2018, Crain’s reported that Hamilton was using a building that was supposed to provide low-income housing as his campaign headquarters for what would be his failed run for re-election to the state Senate.

Lincoln Civic Block Association, a nonprofit that Hamilton ran for years, had received a low-interest loan as part of a city program aimed at helping multifamily building owners who can’t get financing to rehab their properties. As a condition of the financing, the units must be leased to low-income renters. Office use of any kind is not permitted.

Hamilton’s nonprofit also rented the space out to his political allies, Crain’s reported in April 2018. Four months later good-government group Common Cause called on state Attorney General Barbara Underwood to investigate, but it is not clear if Hamilton was ever penalized for using the building for his campaign and Democratic club. Underwood left office at the end of that year.

A search of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s website only showed violations dating back to 2019 for failing to register the multifamily building, at 284 New York Avenue in Crown Heights.

Hamilton represented Brooklyn’s 20th Senate District from 2015 to 2018, taking over from Adams, who became borough president. Hamilton was one of six former Independent Democratic Conference members who lost their primaries to progressive insurgents; Zellnor Myrie took Hamilton’s seat.

Hamilton previously served as then-Sen. Adams’ legal counsel.

— Kathryn Brenzel