What Frank Carone wants, Frank Carone gets — even if he’s
asking the mayor of New York City.
The politically connected lawyer, who emerged this week as a
central architect behind the city’s $173 million real estate deal with the
notorious Podolsky brothers, has enjoyed unfettered access to City Hall since
Mayor de Blasio took office in 2014, the Daily News has learned.
De Blasio was mayor for less than two months when his top
aide, Emma Wolfe, got an email from the Brooklyn attorney with the subject line
“Jobs in the New Administration.”
In it, Carone, who has served as counsel to the Brooklyn
Democratic Party for nearly 10 years, forwarded a list of names and a message
from Brooklyn Democratic Party Leader Frank Seddio seeking to secure jobs for
LGBTQ people in the new administration. The note was originally from Matthew
McMorrow, the former president of Brooklyn’s Lambda Independent Democrats
political club.
“If there is a need or interest please let me know,” Carone
wrote Wolfe.
More names and resumes followed, emails obtained through a
public records request show.
In a March 19, 2014 message, he forwarded Wolfe a resume
from a Richard DiMaio, looking for a graphic designer job in the Health
Department:
“Hi! Frank asked that I send you the attached along with the
city job posting for his weds. meeting with the mayor," DiMaio wrote in a
note that accompanied it. “Can you please ensure he gets this as well as put
this on his agenda? Thank you so much!”
DiMaio shares a last name with Frank Seddio’s daughter,
Grace Seddio-DiMaio. A Richard DiMaio started work as a graphic artist at the
Department of Design and Construction in 2014, public records show. He did not
respond to messages from The News.
Aside from sending resumes and working for landlords like
Jay and Stuart Podolsky, Carone has regularly asked the mayor’s office to
intervene when clients faced roadblocks at city agencies, with senior mayoral
staffers responding with pledges to look into issues large and small — from
zoning variances to plumbing licenses.
In one September 2014 email to mayor’s office staffer Mike
DeLoach, it’s clear Carone had more than one matter before City Hall at any
given time.
“Mike, thanks for your help on DOT issue. Just checking in
on BBP settlement talks?” he wrote. Carone at the time represented the People
For Green Space Foundation, a Brooklyn Heights group who sued to stop
mixed-income housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
He and the law firm he works for, Abrams Fensterman, have
represented many other clients mired in controversy, or with business before
the city — or both.
They include the Allure Group, which was at the center of
the Rivington House scandal that plagued de Blasio’s first term; the Fortis
Property Group, the buyer in the controversial Long Island College Hospital
deal; and Haysha Deitsch, the developer who had to pay out a $3.4 million settlement
for evicting seniors from a Brooklyn nursing home.
Carone’s most well-known clients at the moment are the
Podolsky brothers. They pleaded guilty to dozens of felonies in 1986 in
relation to their treatment of tenants in their properties.
In 2016, Homeless Services Commissioner Steve Banks
contacted Carone about the city’s intention "to take the steps necessary”
to acquire 17 cluster-site buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx through eminent
domain. In 2018, the city made its intention to buy those properties public,
but failed to mention who owned them — the Podolskys — and who represented the
owners — Carone, who funneled $5,000 to de Blasio through his Fairness PAC.
In January, The News revealed the Podolskys were behind the
deal, and in the subsequent weeks, broke the news that the city would shell out
$173 million for the 17 buildings, despite two wildly divergent appraisals that
listed the properties’ value alternately at $49 million and $143 million.
Despite the multi-million dollar largesse from the city,
Carone and his clients haven’t always gotten what they wanted from the city —
but certainly seemed entitled to it when asking.
He repeatedly emailed the mayor’s office regarding the
Department of Homeless Services’ threats to stop renting apartments in a
decrepit “cluster site” homeless building on Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx.
In an email to de Blasio aide Avi Fink, Carone complained
about a letter from the agency to shelter operator Aguila, calling it
“aggressive and unfortunate.”
Later, when another group, Acacia, took over the site,
Carone emailed Fink what sounded more like a command.
“17 and 19 Mosholu Parkway. Whatever needs to be done to
remove the stigma that seems to persist but is factually inaccurate.
Thanks," he wrote.
Despite Carone’s efforts, DHS stopped using the building as
a shelter.
A de Blasio spokesman defended the mayor’s relationship with
Carone.
"It’s extremely common for residents of all sorts to
reach out to City Hall and city employees seeking guidance on an issue,”
spokesman Eric Phillips said. “It’s our job to help them navigate their city
government, whether they’re people involved in politics or people we meet on
the subway or people who ask the mayor questions on the street.”
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