Ex-NYC Buildings chief Eric Ulrich’s massive bribery scheme traded political favors for $150K in benefits: DA
Ex-city Department of Buildings commissioner Eric Ulrich ran a years-long scheme doling out political favors in exchange for more than $150,000 in bribes – including a premium $10,000 Mets season tickets package, a bespoke suit and a painting by an apprentice of Salvador Dali, Manhattan prosecutors charged Wednesday.
Ulrich, 38, pleaded not guilty to a total of 16 felonies spread over five indictments and stemming from his time serving in three political posts – including his days as a Queens councilman and his stint as a senior advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
Ulrich “monetized each and every elected role that he held in government,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a press conference hours after the disgraced DOB head surrendered at the criminal courthouse – with a copy of Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Jesus: A History” in his hand.
“Rather than serve the public, he used his roles to benefit himself and his friends,” Bragg said.
Ulrich was charged alongside six other defendants, including Brooklyn real estate developer and top Adams donor Mark Caller, 51, and Queens pizza joint owners and brothers, Joseph, 55, and Anthony Livreri, 51, who are alleged to have mafia ties.
Also indicted were Michael Mazzio, 54, the operator of a Brooklyn towing company, Paul Grego, 73, a consultant who works to fast-track clients’ permit and plan approvals at the Buildings Department, and Victor Truta, 53, a former city Department of Correction officer.
Ulrich used cash and gifts he received from his co-defendants to live large and to fund a gambling habit, frequenting both casinos and illegal gambling spots, prosecutors claim.
The accused crooked pol also got discounted rent at a posh beachfront property in Queens, according to a joint probe by the Manhattan DA’s Office and the city Department of Investigation.
“When a public official puts New York City up for sale and uses their government office, influence and relationships to enrich themselves, they will be held accountable,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber told reporters Wednesday.
Court papers allege that Ulrich accepted or solicited cash, gifts and favors worth more than $150,000 in less than two years.
“At every possible turn, he allegedly used his taxpayer-funded positions as City Councilmember, then Senior Mayoral Advisor, and finally Department of Buildings Commissioner to line his pockets,” Bragg said in a statement.
In exchange for the alleged bribes, “Ulrich provided his co-conspirators access to high-ranking NYC government officials” – including by inviting the Livreris and Mazzio “to exclusive events and dinners” to show them that he could deliver on his end of their corrupt arrangement, court papers allege.
The case is the result of a two-year investigation that included surveillance and wiretapping of the defendants and showed Ulrich “almost on a daily basis engaging in conduct antithetical to his oath of office,” according to the filings.
During a brief afternoon hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, Ulrich, wearing a dark blue checkered flannel blazer and gray slacks, calmly said “not guilty” when asked to answer the various corruption charges.
Five other alleged members of the bribery schemes pleaded not guilty as well, while Mazzio, who according to his lawyer was showing signs of COVID-19 Wednesday morning, is set to be arraigned later this month.
Justice Daniel Conviser ordered Ulrich and the other defendants to be released without bail, but they will need to ask prosecutors’ permission to travel on more than 3-day long trips or to leave the country while the case is pending.
Among the various alleged bribery schemes outlined in court papers is Ulrich’s alleged “ongoing arrangement” with the Livreris – who co-own a pizza shop called Aldo’s in Ozone Park – including helping to push through a re-inspection after the eatery was shuttered for health violations on Feb. 15, 2022.
One day later, Ulrich allegedly asked for $300 from Joseph while the pair were at a private casino. Then on Feb. 17, 2022, Ulrich “elevated” the inspection issue “to the mayor’s chief advisor” and the restaurant reopened, court documents allege. The filings did not name the advisor, but a city hall press release says that Ingrid Lewis-Martin was appointed to the position a month before the alleged meeting went down.
Court papers also claim that Joseph Livreri acted as the go-between between the pol and the other defendants, helping to solicit bribes and making a failed bid to “insulate” Ulrich from the shady arrangements.
Ulrich allegedly tried to get Joseph a government job after joining the Adams administration as an advisor to the mayor in January 2022. But Joseph allegedly lied on the employment paperwork, failing to disclose he lived in Nassau County and was part owner of an illegal Ozone Park gambling joint called 89th Street Cafe, the DA’s office said.
Ulrich did secure Mazzio’s daughter a job in the Department of Correction in February 2022 that came with a $20,000 raise, prosecutors wrote. He was compensated for this with a $100 Venmo transfer from Mazzio’s daughter’s account, according to the indictment.
Ulrich also helped Mazzio resolve a licensing issue in his tow truck company. Mazzio repaid Ulrich by buying him the “premium” Mets season tickets package worth $10,000, prosecutors claim.
As a senior advisor to Adams, Ulrich also allegedly lobbied the Department of Planning to pass favorable zoning for Caller on his beachfront development in Rockaway Park on 115th Street.
Ulrich helped Caller in his attempts to drive low-income residents from a building across the street by getting the place inspected and slapped with three violations on April 5, 2022, the court documents claim.
After, Ulrich allegedly phoned Caller and said he needed a new place to live, prompting Caller to agree that he would “figure something out,” and ultimately offer Ulrich one of his units at a highly-discounted rate of $2,000 a month, the filings state.
Caller attempted to hide the discounted rental rate by having Ulrich not pay the first three months and building the whole year’s rent into the other nine months, prosecutors claimed.
Ulrich’s lease began on May 1, 2022 – just two days before he stepped into the top job at the DOB.
“I have to be a little bit more careful because I can’t be conflicted … we have to do it smart,” Ulrich told Caller, according to the court docs.
Ulrich also set Caller up with high-ranking DOB employees to help “rush” his requests through, prosecutors claim.
Prosecutors also alleged Ulrich, in his DOB post, helped clients of Greco’s with business before the department in exchange for a “bespoke” suit and a painting by Salvador Dali’s last surviving apprentice Francisco Poblet.
In a wiretap, Greco could be heard speaking in code about the painting — titled “Don Quiote de la Maneba” — saying “I got the things for you, the painting … that your daughter did.”
“I have the, the thing that Poblet left for yous,” Greco said, according to court papers.
Ulrich also took bribes from Truta, 53, to help Truta’s family members get jobs from the city Department of Environmental Protection Commission, prosecutors claim.
The former Queens councilman resigned from his top post at DOB in November 2022 under a cloud of suspicion after a probe was launched into his part in illegal gambling.
Ulrich’s lawyer, Sam Braverman, said Wednesday that Ulrich “maintains his innocence” amid the corruption charges.
“When thousands of phone calls and documents are cherry picked and cut into small bits, and then viewed with eyes biased towards guilt, anyone can be made to look bad,” Braverman told the Post in a text message.
Caller’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement that his client “did not commit any crime whatsoever” and that the charges brought by the DA are based on a “flawed theory.”
Ulrich obtained an apartment in Caller’s building at market rate, Brafman argued.
Ulrich and the other defendants are due back in court on Oct. 23.
Ulrich made a failed bid for city public advocate in 2019 — in which he only managed to raise $159,000 but received $595,000 from city matching funds — and then allegedly spent $40,000 of campaign cash at food spots with prior mob ties.
As of this January, he had resorted to selling insurance in order to make ends meet. He also wrote a children’s book where dogs sit as judges and juries in the judicial system.
