The New York City Conflicts of Interest Board Announces Three Settlements.

 

 

Misuse of City Time & City Resources; Failure to Disclose. An Administrator in the Emergency Management and Services Department at the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) had a second job with Airbnb. Over a year and a half, the Administrator worked 1,334.5 overlapping hours at NYCHA and Airbnb, thus performing extensive work for Airbnb at times she was required to be performing work for NYCHA. The Administrator also used her NYCHA email account to send and receive 19 emails related to her work at Airbnb, including three in which she forwarded internal, but not confidential, NYCHA documents to her Airbnb supervisor. Finally, the Administrator, who was required to file an annual disclosure report with the Board, failed to disclose her position with Airbnb in her 2022 report. To resolve her violations, the now-former Administrator agreed to pay a $13,500 fine. The Disposition is attached as “COIB Disposition (NYCHA).”

 

Misuse of City Position & Misuse of City Personnel. In December 2022, the personal vehicle of the Chief of Collection, Recycling, and Organics at the New York City Department of Sanitation (“DSNY”) was damaged by a construction company while the vehicle was parked in a DSNY parking space and while the Chief was working for DSNY. The Chief paid $1,721.68 to a body shop to repair the damage to his personal vehicle. In an effort to recover money for this personal claim, he had a DSNY subordinate file a claim on his behalf with the New York City Comptroller’s Office and had the subordinate repeatedly follow up with the Comptroller’s Office; the subordinate did this at times he was required to be performing work for DSNY. To resolve his violations, the Chief agreed to pay a $3,500 fine. The Disposition is attached as “COIB Disposition (DSNY).”

 

Prohibited Gifts. A New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) Lieutenant supervised the operation of NYPD’s one airplane. As part of this work, the Lieutenant regularly communicated with CNC Technologies, an NYPD vendor that serviced the airplane. In July 2021, the Lieutenant went to the Airborne Public Safety Conference in New Orleans, despite not being selected by NYPD to attend the conference. Instead, the Lieutenant accepted from CNC hotel accommodations and conference admission valued collectively at $641.69. In so doing, the Lieutenant violated the prohibition on public servants accepting valuable gifts from City vendors. To resolve his violations, the now-former Lieutenant agreed to pay a $1,500 fine. The Disposition is attached as “COIB Disposition (NYPD).”

COIB is the independent, non-mayoral City agency charged with interpreting, administering, and enforcing the City's Conflicts of Interest Law, Annual Disclosure Law, Lobbyist Gift Law, Affiliated Not-for-Profits Law, and Legal Defense Trusts Law.

New York City Conflicts of Interest Board

2 Lafayette Street, Suite 1010

New York, NY 10007

(212) 442-1400