The official who approved the lifting of the deed restrictions that allowed a Lower East Side nursing home to be sold at a $72 million profit and converted into luxury housing has been fired, according to The Wall Street Journal. The entire deal is being investigated by the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
In 2015 Ricardo Morales, then a deputy commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, OK'd the removal of the restriction on Rivington House, a nursing home that served people with HIV/AIDS. Morales was let go Friday, the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio was interviewed by federal prosecutors as part of a probe into whether he or his administration traded beneficial city actions for donations to his 2013 campaign or to his now-defunct nonprofit political group. The DCAS said Morales' departure had nothing to do with the administration's cooperation with the Bharara investigation.
De Blasio said he knew nothing about the Rivington House deal.
article continues below advertisementMore real estate news
Inside de Blasio's 'land grab' aimed at boosting affordable housing data (New York Post)
Jared Kushner keeps some of his real estate empire (The Real Deal)
SoftBank to invest $3 billion in WeWork (CNBC)
Kosciuszko Bridge implosion plans spark fear among Greenpoint residents (Curbed)
Push begins for redevelopment of Pier 40 (Politico New York)
The official who approved the lifting of the deed restrictions that allowed a Lower East Side nursing home to be sold at a $72 million profit and converted into luxury housing has been fired, according to The Wall Street Journal. The entire deal is being investigated by the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
In 2015 Ricardo Morales, then a deputy commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, OK'd the removal of the restriction on Rivington House, a nursing home that served people with HIV/AIDS. Morales was let go Friday, the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio was interviewed by federal prosecutors as part of a probe into whether he or his administration traded beneficial city actions for donations to his 2013 campaign or to his now-defunct nonprofit political group. The DCAS said Morales' departure had nothing to do with the administration's cooperation with the Bharara investigation.
De Blasio said he knew nothing about the Rivington House deal.
More real estate news
Inside de Blasio's 'land grab' aimed at boosting affordable housing data (New York Post)
Jared Kushner keeps some of his real estate empire (The Real Deal)
SoftBank to invest $3 billion in WeWork (CNBC)
Kosciuszko Bridge implosion plans spark fear among Greenpoint residents (Curbed)
Push begins for redevelopment of Pier 40 (Politico New York)
Sign up for our FREE daily email newsletter. A summary of the day's top business and political headlines from the newsroom of Crain's New York Business.
More Newsletters ›
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
