Kate Farmer writes about government waste and fraud in the nation’s largest city.
At the Armoni Inn & Suites, rooms boast modern appliances and glossy wood furniture, while a chandelier hovers in the foyer near a swanky sitting area. Suitable for the business traveler, it seems an unlikely choice for the emergency housing of migrants.
The city of New York, however, paid more than $800,000 for 4,902 room-nights to put up asylum-seekers in this hotel, some 30 miles north of downtown Manhattan. Yet no migrants ever stayed at the Armoni, which became a symbol of rampant waste and abuse in the city’s hapless contracting with human-services companies and nonprofits.
How did it happen? The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development in 2023 gave mobile healthcare company DocGo a $432 million contract for migrant housing. Because Mayor Eric Adams had directed agencies to use emergency housing procurements, DocGo didn’t have to bid against any competitors. Although it had no prior experience providing housing or homeless services, DocGo received exclusive consideration.
City Comptroller Brad Lander rejected the contract, already under way, citing concerns about DocGo’s “integrity” and “responsibility” and HPD’s failure to justify the price tag. But Mr. Adams overrode Mr. Lander and approved the deal. …
… Gov. Kathy Hochul has committed similar blunders. Leaning heavily on emergency no-bid contracts, she came under public fire in 2022 for granting a $600 million no-bid contract to a company whose founder was a longtime campaign fundraiser and donor—even as the company charged roughly double the market rate for its Covid tests. (A spokesman for the company said in 2022 that its prices were “very competitive at the time” and the state’s specifications had driven them up.) A 2024 bill that unanimously passed the state Legislature would have required agencies to disclose publicly any contracts exempted from comptroller approval. Ms. Hochul vetoed it, and lawmakers declined to buck her and override the veto.
