City Comptroller Brad Lander has denied a city contract with a medical services company brought on to assist with the Big Apple’s migrant response, according to a letter obtained by amNewYork Metro.
The denial marks the first time Lander’s office has shot down an emergency contract, the letter states.
Adams’ office contends Lander had previously approved the no-bid $432 million contract with Rapid Reliable Testing NY LLC — commonly known as DocGo Inc. — to provide temporary housing and services for asylum seekers. But the comptroller argues his office did not previously approve the contract he ultimately denied, in statements provided to amNewYork Metro after this story originally went live Wednesday morning, and instead issued blanket prior approval for the city to use the “emergency procurement method” that allows it to cricumvent the competitive bidding process.
“It’s approval to use the emergency procurement method, not approval of the contract,” Lander explained in a New York Times report Wednesday. “How could we approve since we didn’t have it?”
DocGo, a medical services company that first worked with the city to provide COVID testing but then pivoted to migrant housing and services, won the contract in May without having to go through the city’s usual competitive bidding process. Previously, at a July press conference, Mayor Eric Adams defended the DocGo no-bid contract, saying that he had “confidence in them” and had done “a Herculean job of this humanitarian crisis that we’re facing.” He did vow to “scrutinize them” and hold them to account if they do something wrong.
Adams and DocGo have had a friendly relationship; in July, he spoke at the firm’s investor day event and credited them for helping the city get through the COVID-19 Omicron surge early in his tenure as mayor.
In the letter that amNewYork Metro obtained late Tuesday night, addressed to Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr., Lander outlined his reasoning for the denial, drawing the ire of City Hall in the process.
Lander alleged that the contract submitted by HPD fails to sufficiently explain how the agency arrived at the $432 million budget amount requested; provide strong reasoning for selecting DocGo and made contradictory statements in regard to its ability to administer such contracted services; demonstrate the company has the adequate “business responsibility” to execute the contract; and answer open questions about its selection of subcontractors.
The denial comes after a series of news reports, referenced in the letter, outlining numerous issues with DocGo’s contracted services at upstate hotels housing some of the nearly 60,000 migrants in the city’s care. Those reported problems included DocGo “mistreating or misleading asylum seekers, failing to properly respond to reported assault incidents, and inadequate service provision.”
Adams, during an unrelated Wednesday press conference, doubled down on the DocGo contract, insisting the comptroller did previously approve it and saying “we are going to move forward with it.”
“We can’t change the rules in the middle of the game,” Adams told reporters. “I think the comptroller probably saw an opportunity to just get in the conversation. But we have a ruling from his office on doing emergency contracts and we’re just gonna continue to do that … Those who are not on the field should not be far removed and just critique everything. They gotta get in the game.”
The contract denial is the latest escalation in an ongoing saga of bad blood between Lander and Adams over issues including homelessness, housing and providing for newly arrived migrants. Hizzoner went so far as to publicly mock Lander back in May for criticizing the administration’s handling of the crisis, while — in his view — not doing enough to lobby the federal government for additional assistance.
However, the two did appear side-by-side last week in a rally demanding that President Biden immediately approve work permits for migrants.
‘Not a logistics company’
“There is little evidence to suggest that Rapid Reliable Testing NY LLC had the expertise to provide the services it has been contracted for, calling into question HPD’s vetting of the vendor’s prior experience and capacity that served as its purported basis for vendor selection,” the letter reads. “It is a medical services company, not a logistics company, social services provider, or legal service provider.
The comptroller’s office is alleging the city didn’t properly vet DocGo after its questionable past came to light.
In the letter disallowing the $432 million, the comptroller adds that HPD indicated a speedy need for $15,267,355, which the agency did not have available at the time. He states that concerns were raised when his office learned that the administration commenced services from DocGo in May 2023 and already owed it $70 million, causing the comptroller to question “HPD’s capacity to contract for these services.”
Additionally, Lander charged that HPD originally explained DocGo had the “capacity” to administer migrant housing and services, but then in July, requested a $4 million advance for the company, stating it wouldn’t be able to execute the contract without the additional funds. He said that the inconsistent statements bring up “key concerns” about how the city selected DocGo in the first place.
“This inconsistency highlights a key concern regarding the procedures utilized in selecting this vendor,” the letter reads. “If the vendor is uniquely capable of providing services at scale, then it should not be in need of, nor eligible for, special treatment to facilitate those services.”
Steamed over comptroller’s denial
City Hall spokesman Charles Lutvak argued that emergency contracts have been used since 2022 to help provide emergency accommodations for migrants and claimed the comptroller already signed the contract over the summer.
With thousands of new arrivals coming to the Big Apple each month, he charged, New York needs as much aid a possible to provide beds and services to individuals and families.
“The comptroller’s office approved the city’s emergency contract with DocGo this summer, as New York City was forced to undertake its own decompression strategy,” Lutvak said in a statement. “With nearly 60,000 people currently in the city’s care and thousands more coming every month, we are doing everything we can to stop families from being forced to sleep on the streets, and we are hopeful our partners in the comptroller’s office will work with us towards that goal.”
In a memo signed by Lander’s office on July 25, obtained by amNewYork Metro, HPD briefly outlined why it picked DocGo. But it didn’t go into detail about the company’s qualifications in the memo.
Additionally, the administration argues that contract oversight and proper service delivery are not an appropriate basis to deny registration or approve a contract.
Lander stressed that this decision was not made lightly, adding that of the 303 emergency contracts submitted to his office, 69 were directly related to asylum seekers — and this marked the first time his office has denied an emergency contract.
In its own statement, DocGo painted its role in running migrant shelters for the city as “critical” and said the Adams administration has assured the company would be paid the full amount agreed to in the contract.
“Notwithstanding yesterday’s response from the Comptroller, we have received assurance from the Mayor’s office that NYC intends to fully pay DocGo for the services delivered under this contract, both historically and going forward,” the statement reads.
