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THE CITY
Charter Ardor: Mayor Taps His Favorite Real Estate Big for Revision Commission
By Katie Honan,
2024-05-23
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday named a 13-member panel to produce proposed changes to the city charter, a day after announcing it will be led by a construction industry leader whose expected appointment to lead the city Economic Development Corporation was scuttled after THE CITY reported on his financial dealings.
Carlo Scissura, CEO of the New York Building Congress, was picked by Adams this week to lead a new Charter Review Commission with a focus on public safety and fiscal responsibility in the city, according to the mayor’s office.
He’ll head a group that includes other Adams allies, including Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State conference; Kyle Bragg, the former head of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ; and former Staten Island congressman Max Rose, who now works for Adams’ ex-chief of staff Frank Carone’s consulting firm.
Scissura told THE CITY on Wednesday that he is excited for the opportunity, and noted he has served on charter review commissions since Mayor Mike Bloomberg was in office.
“I did Bloomberg, de Blasio, and now Adams, so I’ve done three,” he said near the City Hall steps. “We talked to people, you hear from people, and I think it’s fun but I’m a geek with government stuff so I think it can be interesting.”
In a press release, Adams praised the team in its mission “towards enhancing transparency, responsiveness in city government, and further civic engagement.”
He added: “Their mission to explore innovative ways for the public to contribute to our city’s governance will be critical in moving our city forward.”
Lobby Hobby
The appointment of Scissura comes after Adams had reportedly prepared early in his term to appoint him head of the Economic Development Corporation, which controls billions in city real estate assets, as reported by the Real Deal . Then a probe by THE CITY showed Scissura had worked behind the scenes with a real estate developer on property deals with city agencies that proved costly to the public.
One bargain was revealed in a contract between Scissura and real estate owner Tim Ziss, who sold a former Nathan’s Famous hot dog outpost in Brooklyn to the School Construction Authority for more than $25 million — double what he had paid for it six months earlier, records showed.
The work Scissura was supposed to do as outlined in the contract included meeting with the local community board, city agencies and elected and community leaders” to drum up support for the project and sale — which government experts told THE CITY appeared to be textbook lobbying.
In another mission for Ziss, Scissura agreed to help him outmaneuver owners for control of a Queens affordable housing project where tenants lamented shabby conditions .
But Scissura was not registered in the New York City or New York State lobbyist records systems. He declined to speak Wednesday about the previous reporting.
Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy said of Scissura that they were “very happy to have him part of the team.”
“There’s nobody more experienced on charter revision commissions,” he told THE CITY. “This is an unpaid position of people that just want to contribute back to their community.”
Bumping Heads
The mayor’s commission announcement came a week after the Daily News reported that the City Council was eyeing devising a new charter amendment that would require the mayor get their body’s consent for top governmental appointments, including agency commissioners..
The proposed amendment would then have to be considered in a referendum on voters’ ballots — but under the current city charter, revision commission questions and referendums cannot appear on the same ballot. So the mayor’s move effectively usurps the Council’s power to get that done this year.
“A Charter Revision Commission that seeks to change the city’s constitution should be a serious undertaking, not something arbitrarily constructed in response to a Council bill being introduced and announced at 6 p.m. with serious ethical questions about some of its members,” Council spokesperson Mara Davis told THE CITY in a statement.
“The Council believes in representative democracy, good government, and effective governance,” she added.
Speaking of consenting to appointments, Adams is still considering putting forward the controversial Randy Mastro , who served as a deputy to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to become the city’s top lawyer — a process that requires City Council approval. So far, most of the 51 members of the legislative body have already said they won’t vote in favor of Mastro.
“We’re going to put our best foot forward on whomever we determine to fit the position and it will be part of the process,” the mayor said Tuesday about the pending Corporation Counsel nomination.
Regarding the charter revision, Adams’ spokesperson Levy said, “[We] plan our schedule based on our schedule and what’s best for New Yorkers, and not anything the Council is doing.”
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