The Department for the Aging is moving ahead with an office lease that hit a snag over ethical concerns.
The deal to move to billionaire Alexander Rovt’s 14 Wall Street was paused after criticism that city officials steered the lease to the donor of Mayor Eric Adams.
The director of the Office of Risk Management confirmed last week that the department would be moving to the Financial District property, The City reported. In a letter to Councilmember Gale Brewer, Jean-Claude LeBec said renegotiations for the lease were started after ORM’s review and the deal was found to be “in the best financial interest of the City.”
The office presented results of its review to then-First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer in February. The assessment began in November and involved reviewing relevant documents, interviewing more than a dozen city employees and consulting with the Law Department.
But how the city decided to continue on with the 14 Wall Street relocation — passing over a move to 250 Broadway in the process — remains unclear. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services promised to release a report imminently in March; that report was never released.
A spokesperson for DCAS said that “14 Wall Street’s offer was always the best — meeting the programmatic and financial needs of the city, while saving our taxpayers millions of dollars.” The spokesperson added that nobody involved in the initial decision process was part of the second decision process, likely including DCAS deputy commissioner Jesse Hamilton, who has been at the center of the controversy involving city office leases.
In November, City Hall paused plans to move the Department of Aging to 14 Wall Street, following reports that Hamilton pushed for the building to be selected.
Hamilton reportedly stepped into the lease procurement process to steer the deal towards Rovt, even though AmTrust Realty’s 250 Broadway was the top pick for the lease, according to an internal scoring system. Hamilton reportedly had staff at DCAS stop communications with AmTrust, helping Rovt secure a deal worth tens of millions of dollars.
Rovt and his wife donated the maximum to two of Adams’ previous campaigns, while he and his son donated $3,500 for Adams’ 2025 re-election campaign as of November. Rovt also raised $15,000 for Adams’ legal defense fund before the November lease deal emerged.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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