Lawmakers call for audit of Adams administration’s tech contracts

NEW YORK — A trio of lawmakers has asked the city comptroller’s office to conduct an “immediate and thorough audit of technology contracts,” following a POLITICO investigation into an artificial intelligence company’s efforts to push its way into Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

The company, Remark Holdings, found a crucial ally in top aide Timothy Pearson, who insisted that New York City Fire Department officials meet with Remark at least four times earlier this year. At the time, Pearson had a personal relationship with a consultant who worked for Remark, their social media accounts show.

Although FDNY officials were unsatisfied with the technology and declined to hire the company, the city nonetheless quietly piloted Remark’s technology as a fire detection tool at a Brooklyn migrant shelter, the investigation found .

The revelations about Remark — as well as a report that another tech company secured over $1.4 million in Department of Education contracts after hiring the schools chancellor’s brother as a consultant — “raise serious questions about the integrity of the city’s procurement processes, which appear vulnerable to abuse and risk eroding public trust in our government,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Monday to Comptroller Brad Lander , which was shared exclusively with POLITICO.

The letter is signed by Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, chair of the technology committee; Council Member Lincoln Restler, chair of the committee on governmental operations; and state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, chair of the committee on internet and technology.

“We also believe that this audit should examine the broader landscape of how technology contracts are awarded, and whether additional reforms are needed to protect against future conflicts of interest, the potential for data security breaches, and improper data sharing,” they wrote.

Adams’ Democratic reelection challengers piled on.

Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is running against Adams next year, said the city should devote extra scrutiny to AI companies vying for city business and develop additional safeguards.

“This technology has arrived, and we have to monitor it; we have to make sure that people are protected,” Stringer said in an interview.

Other reelection rivals also cited POLITICO’s reporting as an indication that his administration is untrustworthy.

Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos specifically criticized the mayor over his refusal to remove Pearson, saying it “leaves all of us with the impression that he has no problems with his laundry list of misconduct.”

Federal agents recently seized Pearson’s phone in a mushrooming corruption probe.

“Every time Pearson’s name has come up recently, it reveals a new breach of the public’s trust. This is a man who took a role at City Hall and asked himself how he could use it to enrich himself, rather than how he could serve people,” Ramos said in a statement to POLITICO. “What sickens me the most, is how his corruption compromised City Hall’s ability to manage the migrant influx.”

Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, said a migrant shelter is the “last place on earth” the city should implement surveillance technology, given the risks that the data collected could be shared with federal immigration and law enforcement agencies or accessed by hackers.

“We can’t be a sanctuary city and a surveillance city at the same time,” he said in an interview.

And he questioned the logic of using AI technology to detect fires, saying, “it’s very difficult for me to believe it would ever be as remotely reliable as the $10 smoke alarm that runs off a nine-volt battery.”

Lander, who is also running for mayor, declined to specify whether he plans to use his office’s subpoena power or other oversight authority to scrutinize the administration’s dealings with Remark or other tech pilot programs.

“The hardworking people of New York City deserve a city government and leadership they can trust — and this is just the latest example of the Adams administration’s inability to deliver it,” Lander said in a written statement to POLITICO.

In response to POLITICO’s findings, Adams spokesperson Liz Garcia declined to provide a statement or answer questions about the city’s work with Remark, its interest in using new technology for public safety purposes and Pearson’s relationship with the Remark consultant. Garcia said Mayor Adams has repeatedly told staff they should comply with the city’s ethics laws.

And Kai-Shing Tao, Remark’s CEO, disputed any suggestion that his company’s technology poses a security risk for New York City. He said Remark’s products comply with a European data security certification .

“There are a lot of people out there who are trying to do good, and I think we are one of them,” Tao said in an interview. “We think we can provide a lot of value from an efficiency standpoint.”

Joe Anuta and Sally Goldenberg contributed to this report.