[NYPOST] City Hall wants folks to believe that its deal for a 36-story luxury condo in Brooklyn Heights was strictly on the up and up. But emails newly obtained by The Post suggest it was every bit as seedy as other notorious deals on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s watch.The emails ‐ unveiled thanks to the Freedom of Information laws ‐ show Hudson Cos. CEO David Kramer had at least two conversations with Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen before the city’s Economic Development Corp., which reports to her, and the Brooklyn Public Library, which owned the site, awarded the project to his company.
State law bars contacts between firms and officials during bidding competitions to prevent favoritism or even the appearance of it.
But that clearly didn’t happen here: Kramer and city officials admit he spoke to Glen in March and August of 2014, before the competition ended in September. And days after Hudson won the bid, Kramer thanked Glen, calling her "the expeditor."
"Ever since our call in August, it feels like momentum finally started happening." He was "happy" the process ended and "quite pleased with the outcome." (No doubt.)
Both Kramer and officials insist the early contacts were harmless reminders that bidders hoped to wrap things up. Glen "never took a side in who won," insists City Hall spokeswoman Jane Meyer.
But Kramer is a donor and longtime pal of Mayor de Blasio. And his $52 million offer to buy the Brooklyn library site wasn’t the highest bid. Hudson also got $10 million from a Goldman Sachs unit Glen once oversaw.
Worse, the deal fits a pattern of de Blasio donors getting favorable treatment: Who can forget City Hall’s OK for a nursing home to be turned into condos, reaping the developer a $72 million windfall? Or the favors for fat cats and unions that gave handsomely to the mayor’s campaign and his Campaign for One New York slush fund?