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New York Politics

Ex-buildings boss Ulrich tells NYC prosecutors Mayor

Adams warned him ‘watch your phones’ before gambling
probe went public: sources
By Michael Gartland and Molly Crane-Newman
New York Daily News • Published: Jul 28, 2023 at 4:16 pm

Former New York City Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich told investigators that
Mayor Adams tipped him off to the possibility he could be reeled into an illegal
gambling investigation — months before the Manhattan district attorney’s office
executed a search warrant on Ulrich and its probe became public knowledge, two
sources with knowledge of the matter told the Daily News.

“Watch your back and watch your phones,” Adams said to Ulrich, according to the two
sources with knowledge of Ulrich’s interview with prosecutors at the Manhattan DA’s
office in November.

In that interview, Ulrich told investigators he interpreted Adams’ reference to a friend

with illegal gambling ties and the statement “watch your phones” as an indication that
a probe was underway, sources said.

Former New York City Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich, left, and Mayor Eric Adams. (Luiz C. Ribeiro & William
Alatriste/New York Daily News; NY City Council via Flickr)

The revelation that Adams may have clued Ulrich into an investigation before it
LATEST
became public raises questions, including whether there’ll be fallout if Adams had
Yankees
prior knowledge of the situation, how he might have learned about it and why he might
Yankees Notebook: Trade
have shared that information with Ulrich. deadline options shrinking
as rivals get better
1h
Adams’ spokesman Fabien Levy said that “the mayor has not received any requests
from the Manhattan DA surrounding this matter and has never spoken to Mr. Ulrich
Mets
about this investigation, either before or after the matter became public.” Mets Notebook: Team
braces for future without
“Not only did the mayor not know anything of the investigation before news of it broke Max Scherzer after trade
to Rangers
last fall, but it makes no sense for anyone to learn about or even suspect a criminal 1h
investigation into a particular person and then decide to promote that same person,”
Levy said. Yankees
With days off planned,
Yankees practicing caution
There is no indication Adams is a target of the probe.
with Aaron Judge
2h
News about the probe into Ulrich broke last November , seven months after Adams
tapped him to become buildings commissioner. Two days after the probe became
public, Ulrich resigned amid allegations he was involved in illegal gambling .

Mayor Eric Adams, left, and Eric Ulrich are pictured together on May 6, 2022. (Mayoral Photography Office)

More recently, sources revealed that a grand jury is considering charges against Ulrich
and that an indictment could come before summer’s end, as first reported by The
News.

According to the two sources, who agreed to speak with The News under the condition
of anonymity due to the DA’s probe, Ulrich told investigators that Adams revealed the
possibility of an investigation during a conversation in May 2022, just days after
Adams announced Ulrich’s appointment as head of the Department of Buildings .

Before taking on the commissioner post, Ulrich, a Republican, served as a senior

adviser to Adams, who’s a Democrat. During Adams’ run for mayor in 2021, while
Ulrich was a City Councilman representing Queens, he backed the mayor and was
instrumental in raising money for his campaign.

In early May 2022, days after the announcement that Ulrich would serve as buildings
commissioner, he and Adams appeared at an event in the Bronx. After it ended, Adams
pulled Ulrich aside and asked him to hand over his phone to a member of Adams’
NYPD security detail, according to the sources’ recounting of what Ulrich told
investigators.

The sources didn’t specify who that

officer was. Which event the two
attended together also isn’t entirely
clear, but a review of the mayor’s public
schedule shows both attended a
Department of Buildings Construction
Safety Week event on Friday, May 6.

[ Adams and Ulrich at May 6, 2022

construction safety event in the Bronx. ]

Then-Councilman Eric Ulrich and Joseph Livreri were

After Ulrich handed over his phone, he among several people who hosted a fundraiser for Mayor
Eric Adams during his 2021 run for mayor.
and Adams walked away from the cop,
and then, according to the sources’ retelling, Adams told Ulrich that “a little birdie”
told him a friend of Ulrich’s was involved in illegal gambling and that Ulrich should
“watch your back and watch your phones,” a message both sources took as a reference
to a potential wiretap.

According to the sources, Ulrich recounted this exchange to Manhattan D.A.

investigators on Nov. 2, a day after the search warrant had been executed.

Levy denied that Adams told Ulrich to leave his phone with anyone during any
conversation between the two.

That account of events wasn’t all Ulrich told the DA’s office, the sources said.

He also revealed to investigators that he alerted Joseph Livreri, a former Council aide,
about the mayor’s warning. Livreri’s Ozone Park pizzeria lies at the center of the illegal
gambling probe, according to published reports in the New York Times and The City .

Former New York City Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich is pictured at Woodhaven Library on September 22, 2021. (William
Alatriste/NY City Council via Flickr)

It wasn’t the first time Ulrich warned Livreri — who has not been charged in the
gambling probe. About a year prior to his purported exchange with Adams, Ulrich told
the DA’s team that Livreri had been involved with card games and gambling machines
out of the 101 Cafe in Ozone Park. Ulrich liked to gamble, but sources say Ulrich
recounted to prosecutors that in 2021 he told Livreri he wouldn’t be coming to 101
anymore and that Livreri should pull back from the business because it could get him
into legal trouble.

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Livreri could not be reached for comment.

Ulrich declined comment, and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for
comment. A spokesperson for the DA’s office also declined to comment or confirm any
details of the probe.

The conversation with Adams that sources say Ulrich recounted to investigators raises
the question of how Adams may have learned about a friend of Ulrich being involved
with any alleged illegal gambling and whether passing along that knowledge could put
him or others into any legal or ethical hot water.

The purported exchange between Adams and Ulrich could also lead to other headaches
for the mayor. Adams’ office has been dealing with the fallout from charges against
several people accused of orchestrating and executing a straw donor scheme to benefit
his campaign — and in turn themselves, through political favors they expected once
Adams took office. The Manhattan D.A. is handling that case as well.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference in Chelsea on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for ,

New York Daily News)

Earlier this week, Adams made a point of telling reporters about how he’s appointed
two former federal prosecutors as his chief counsel. The first, Brendan McGuire, is

stepping down later this summer. Adams named his replacement, Lisa Zornberg, on
Wednesday .

“At the heart of this administration is the integrity,” Adams said during that
announcement.

“This administration is an administration that believes we must be beyond reproach ...

I sleep well every night because I had Brendan and now I have Lisa. I can go to bed,
hug my little teddy bear and go to sleep because they are watching my back. And they
are watching the back of this city.”

2023 > July > 28

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