DOI Report: De Blasio Administration Bungled Nursing Home Land Deal, Hindered Investigators
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio suffered a slap in the face Thursday, as his own Department of Investigation has found that City Hall bungled a controversial land deal that allowed a Lower East Side nursing home to be turned into luxury condos.
As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, the DOI findings are not good news for the de Blasio administration. But what may be the most startling finding is that the city's Law Department hindered the investigation and blocked access to City Hall computers.
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The DOI investigation did not find any outright corruption in the controversial land deal, in which the nursing home at 45 Rivington St. was allowed to be developed into luxury condominiums despite city deed restrictions that limited its use.
The DOI found that high-level City Hall officials bungled the deal, knew what was going on and did nothing to stop it.
But the DOI report also documented a stunning lack of cooperation on the part of the Law Department, which made it difficult, if not impossible, for probers to do a complete job.
The report found that access was denied to City Hall computers, documents sought by the DOI were redacted, and in one instance the DOI received 1,000 pages of documents – of which some 990 were blank because the mayor's lawyers said the DOI was not entitled to the information.
"Because DOI did not receive a full production of what it requested, it is unclear what Rivington-related information remains on the City Hall servers and computers, to which DOI was denied access," the agency said.
Under the deal, a developer called the Allure Group bought the property for $28 million, paid the city $16 million to remove the deed restrictions that required its use as a nursing home. Three months later, the property was sold for $16 million to a firm that plans to build luxury condos in a neighborhood that is quickly gentrifying.
The developer made a profit of $72 million.
"The city had the opportunity to protect its interests but did not do so," the DOI report said.
CBS2's Kramer asked why access to City Hall computers was denied and why documents were redacted. Press Secretary Eric Falk Phillips insisted: "We provided every relevant document and interview they requested."
Meanwhile, repeating remarks on the subject last week, Mayor de Blasio said Thursday night that the nursing home deal was all a mistake, and he said there are new in place to prevent it from happening again.
De Blasio said the city is reinvesting $16 million to get out of the deal, CBS2's Sonia Rincon reported.
De Blasio said if he had known the city was being asked to consider lifting the deed restrictions, it would have been "the easiest no" he had ever given.
He said he had no idea the deal was happening, and blamed a "lack of coordination" amongst city agencies for the fact that it went through.
As for whether the Law Department obstructed the DOI investigation, de Blasio said he is confident that the Law Department acted properly.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer called the findings a "punch in the gut to the Lower East Side." He said he will issue his own report shortly.
