City Hall has halted the lucrative city lease awarded to a donor of Mayor Eric Adams while it investigates how one of the mayor’s allies executed the deal.
The city is reviewing the Department for the Aging’s office lease at 14 Wall Street in the Financial District, Politico reported. The lease is only said to be on pause, meaning it could ultimately still be enacted.
The Financial District building is owned by billionaire Alexander Rovt, a real estate investor, health care entrepreneur and Adams donor. He and his wife donated the legal maximum to two of Adams’ previous campaigns, while he and his son have already donated $3,500 for Adams’ 2025 re-election campaign.
Leasing decisions for the city are in the hands of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, run by Jesse Hamilton; he is one of several officials under investigation regarding the city’s commercial leases. The Manhattan district attorney’s office seized Hamilton’s phone when he returned from Japan, along with devices from another prominent Adams adviser and a Cushman and Wakefield broker.
Hamilton reportedly stepped into the lease procurement process to steer a deal towards Rovt, even though AmTrust Realty’s 250 Broadway was the top pick for the lease, as determined by an internal scoring system. Hamilton reportedly instructed staff at DCAS to stop communications with AmTrust, helping Rovt reel in a deal worth tens of millions of dollars.
A Manhattan community board recommended approval of the lease, but later voiced concerns about building ownership and Hamilton’s role in the procurement process. The City Planning Commission also approved the lease, but resistance formed in the City Council.
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Members of the City Council wrote to First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, asking the official to take a closer look at the situation.
“New Yorkers deserve to know that taxpayers are getting the best deal — not rewarding the Mayor’s donors with a multimillion lease,” Councilmembers Lincoln Restler, Keith Powers and Chris Marte said in a joint statement.