Members of the New York City Council want answers after an I-Team investigation revealed a top staffer for Mayor Eric Adams has had a financial relationship with the firm selected to privatize the city’s public health laboratory.
The lab, where government scientists have battled disease outbreaks for decades, is being re-located to Harlem. The Adams Administration is now pushing for City Council approval, so the property left behind — 455 First Avenue in Manhattan — can be handed over to a private developer called Taconic Partners.
Earlier in January, the I-Team uncovered financial disclosure documents that show Nathan Bliss, a City Hall chief of staff who helps oversee the NYC Economic Development Corporation, was employed by Taconic for two years before joining the Adams administration. And just before joining City Hall, Bliss reported Taconic paid him between $100,000 and $250,000 during his final three weeks working for the developer.
Mayor Adams also appointed Bliss to lead the NYC Land Development Corporation (LDC), an agency dedicated to disposing of public property, which would be involved in any transfer of the lab building to Taconic.
After learning of the close ties between City Hall and Taconic Partners, two high-ranking members of the NYC Council drafted a letter demanding more information about Nathan Bliss’s relationship with his former employer.
“The overlap between Mr. Bliss’ financial ties to Taconic, his roles at City Hall overseeing EDC and LDC, and his involvement in projects like Innovation East raise significant concerns about potential conflicts of interest,” wrote Council Members Gale Brewer and Amanda Farias, who chair the Oversight Committee and Economic Development Committee, respectively.
Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for Mayor Adams, said City Hall is reviewing the letter and reiterated that Nathan Bliss’s financial disclosures prove he was transparent about his relationship with Taconic.
“As the Mayor has made clear, we expect every employee to avoid any potential conflict of interest, which is exactly what Nate Bliss did,” Garcia wrote. “We will review the letter and will respond to the Council accordingly.”
The NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is quarterbacking the laboratory re-development, said the project was put out for bid in 2018 – a year in which Nate Bliss worked as an EDC staffer, according to his LinkedIn profile. A rough timeline of the lab project, shared by EDC, said negotiations with Taconic began in January 2021, when Bliss worked as a Vice President for the private developer. The selection of Taconic was later announced in April of 2022, when Bliss was working in City Hall.
The EDC has so far declined to provide the I-Team with bid documents that show what other companies submitted proposals to redevelop the laboratory property.
Jeff Holmes, an EDC spokesperson, said his agency is in the process of responding to lawmakers, and referred the I-Team to his original statement in which he said Nathan Bliss played no role in selecting his former company for the project.
Choosing Taconic as the lab property developer “was the result of a competitive and robust selection process,” Holmes said. “Nate Bliss was not part of this selection committee nor was he employed at the New York City Economic Development Corporation when the project entered into negotiations.”
But the letter from City Council also requested information about Bliss’s ongoing financial relationship with Taconic – even while he works in City Hall.
According to his 2022 and 2023 financial disclosure, Bliss is entitled to “future distributions” from a closed real estate fund managed by Taconic. The fund includes “investments in six properties in the New York City area,” according to the documents. City Council is now seeking a list of those properties.
Council Member Amanda Farias, a co-signer of the letter and the Council Majority Leader, questioned why the Adams Administration has not provided more documentation to show how the lab project was conceived of.
“Transparency is important when it comes to transferring city-owned property to private entities, particularly when questions of potential conflicts of interest have arisen,” read a statement from Farias’s office.
The City Council letter inquiring about City Hall’s connections to Taconic also CC’ed the NYC Department of Investigation (DOI), which has independent authority to investigate both criminal and administrative violations of government ethics. The agency confirmed it is in receipt of the letter but offered no comment on whether an investigation is underway.
Nathan Bliss has not responded to written questions from the I-Team.
Taconic Partners has also not responded to written questions, but after a January 9th City Council presentation on Innovation East, Taconic Vice President Benjamin Baccash said he did not believe Nate Bliss was involved with the selection of his company.
“I’m sure no,” said Baccash, “but I can’t speak for him.”
