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Mayor Adams’ campaign to return more than $31K in donations from indicted
ex-Buildings boss Eric Ulrich, his co-defendants and relatives

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Former New York City’s Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich is escorted into Supreme Court, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

By Chris Sommerfeldt | csommerfeldt@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: September 25, 2023 at 7:44 p.m. | UPDATED: September 25, 2023 at 8:32 p.m.

Mayor Adams’ campaign is returning more than $31,000 in donations made by criminally indicted
ex-Buildings Department boss Eric Ulrich, his six co-defendants and a myriad of relatives.

Vito Pitta, Adams’ campaign lawyer, confirmed the planned refunds Monday, telling the Daily News
that the mayor’s team “began the process of returning contributions from these individuals when
their indictments were announced.”

“The campaign has always set the highest standard, and we know that our more than 10,000
contributors would expect nothing less,” Pitta said.

Pitta would not give an exact dollar figure for the expected refunds, though he did say the
campaign will return donations from Ulrich, his co-defendants and any “identified family members
of those indicted.” City records reviewed by The News show Ulrich and the six co-defendants
contributed a combined $7,925 to Adams’ 2021 campaign, while family members of two co-
Michael Mazzio and Mark Caller gave another $23,900, meaning the total refund
,

amount should clock in at $31,825.

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Former New York City’s Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich, seated second from right, sits at the Supreme Court with co
defendant Mark Caller, seated second from left, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in New York.

Five indictments unsealed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Sept. 13 allege Ulrich, a
Republican, used his government positions to secure favors — like expedited health inspections
and municipal agency jobs — for his co-defendants in exchange for $150,000 in bribes.

Former New York City’s Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich, right, sits at the Supreme Court with co defendant Paul Grego, seated
second from left, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in New York.

The indictments charge Ulrich’s scheme played out at least between 2017 and November 2022.
Over that span, he abused all his roles in municipal government, first as a City Council member,
then as a senior City Hall adviser to Adams and, finally, as the mayor’s Buildings Department
commissioner, prosecutors say.

Neither Adams nor any current members of his administration are accused of any wrongdoing as
part of Ulrich’s indictments.

The sole contribution Ulrich is listed as having made to Adams was in January 2021, when he gave
$175, according to campaign finance filings. Months later, in August 2021, Ulrich co-hosted a high-
fundraiser for Adams at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach with three of his co-
Mazzio, and brothers Joseph and Anthony Livreri.

Barry Williams for New York Daily News

Michael Mazzio appears in Manhattan Criminal Court Friday, September 22, 2023 in Manhattan, New York.

In addition to co-hosting that fundraiser, the Livreri brothers, who own Aldo’s, a Queens pizzeria
with a history of reputed mob ties contributed $2,000 each to Adams between July 2020 and
,

August 2021, campaign finance filings show.

According to Bragg’s prosecutors, Adams and his chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, met with
Ulrich and the Livreris several times, both before and after Adams’ January 2022 inauguration.

Among other alleged actions, prosecutors charge Ulrich, in exchange for cash and gifts, secured a
City Council job for Joseph Livreri and helped dispense with health code violations that threatened
Aldo’s ability to stay open.

Ulrich and his co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty. Neither Ulrich nor an attorney for the
Livreris returned requests for comment Monday on the Adams campaign’s decision to return their
donations.

Mazzio, the other co-defendant who co-hosted the Russo’s fundraiser, also gave $2,000 to Adams’
2021 campaign, records show. Mazzio’s family members gave another $8,500 that is now set to be
returned, records show.

Among the relatives who contributed are Mazzio’s brothers, Salvatore and Angelo Mazzio, who
gave $1,000 each, records show.

In 2018, the three brothers were charged in an unrelated indictment alleging they participated in
an organized crime-connected conspiracy related to a tow truck business venture. That case is still
pending.

Reached by The News on Monday afternoon, James Frocarro, an attorney for Michael Mazzio, said
he had never before heard of the donations his client and relatives made to the mayor. Frocarro
declined to comment further.

Like the Livreris, Michael Mazzio allegedly met with Adams and Lewis-Martin, including at Aldo’s in
December 2021, weeks after the mayor’s election. Bragg’s prosecutors charge Mazzio showered
Ulrich with bribes, including Mets tickets, in exchange for help with getting his tow truck license
reinstated.

Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Housing Works

Chief advisor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Ingrid P. Lewis-Martin

The other three co-defendants who contributed money to Adams are Caller, Department of
Buildings filing representative Paul Grego and retired Correction Department Captain Victor
Truta.

Grego donated $1,250 between February and July 2021, records show. Grego allegedly bribed
Ulrich with a high-end painting, a custom-made suit and cash in exchange for Ulrich securing
favorable Buildings Department actions for his clients.

Truta, who allegedly gave Ulrich cash in exchange for help with getting a relative a city government
job, donated $100 to Adams’ campaign in 2019, records show. He could not be reached for
comment Monday.

Caller, who contributed $400 to Adams, hosted a fundraiser for him in August 2021 that raked in
more than $47,000, as first reported by the news outlet The City this month. Records show
$15,400 of that haul came from Caller’s relatives, meaning it’s going to be returned.

An attorney for Caller — who allegedly bribed Ulrich with a discounted apartment and other gifts
in exchange for official government actions — suggested his client remains willing to provide
monetary support for the mayor when asked about the decision to return his donation.

“The mayor may again seek Mr. Caller’s support after he is acquitted of all of the charged crimes as
they are entirely baseless allegations,” the lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said.

Chris Sommerfeldt Politics Reporter |

Chris Sommerfeldt is a reporter covering City Hall and all things NYC politics for the Daily News. Prior, Chris covered the Trump and
Biden administrations, Congress and national politics. He began working for the Daily News in 2015 as a general assignment reporter.
His superpower is biking everywhere, no matter the distance or the weather.

2023 September 25

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