How Eric Adams, Mayoral Candidate, Combined Cash and Political Ambition

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How Eric Adams, Mayoral Candidate, Combined Cash and Political Ambition

In interviews, a number of figures in the actual property business stated contributions to Mr. Adams’s marketing campaign weren't merely transactio


In interviews, a number of figures in the actual property business stated contributions to Mr. Adams’s marketing campaign weren’t merely transactional however reflective of his total help.

Regardless of the exact dynamic, Mr. Adams had amassed not less than $937,000 from builders, property managers, architects, contractors and others as of his marketing campaign submitting in March. That represented greater than a 3rd of his whole non-public contributions, excluding public matching funds, an evaluation exhibits, and included cash from builders of luxurious buildings in gentrifying neighborhoods.

(As a way to qualify for public matching funds, Mr. Adams’s marketing campaign has returned greater than $300,000 of that actual property business cash as a result of it exceeded this system’s contribution limits.)

Among the many early backers of Mr. Adams’s mayoral bid was Mr. Schwartz, the Slate group co-founder.

On Might 25, 2018, a Slate affiliate filed a metropolis land-use software to construct a 40-story tower on a wedge-shaped plot in Downtown Brooklyn zoned for roughly 24 tales. Mr. Adams must problem an advisory opinion on the proposed zoning change.

Three weeks after the submitting, on the night of June 13, Mr. Schwartz hosted the fund-raiser for Mr. Adams at his East 29th Avenue workplaces. In line with individuals who attended, Mr. Schwartz organized the occasion and personally invited friends.

Mr. Schwartz, who was on the town’s doing-business checklist, distanced himself and Slate from the occasion. He didn’t personally contribute; he had final given Mr. Adams’s marketing campaign $320 in 2015. And he despatched the invitation within the identify of a administration firm that operates in the identical workplaces as Slate. The invitation — in blue, yellow and white, with an “Eric Adams 2021” brand — recommended contributions starting from $300 for a “good friend” to $1,000 for a “sponsor.”

A number of of Mr. Schwartz’s distributors donated: a demolition contractor gave $2,000, an actual property lawyer $2,500 and an equipment vendor $5,000.



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