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gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
@gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
880 followers 17 following 38 posts
Reporter at non-profit news site THE CITY, author of "Made Men: The True Story of the Rise and Fall of a New Jersey Crime Family"
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gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
He's polling in the single digits but the $ keeps rolling in for Eric Adams from deep-pocket donors with specific asks from City Hall www.thecity.nyc/2025/09/16/e...
Eric Adams’ Long Shot Bid Is Still Scoring Support From These Megadonors
Developers seeking City Hall approvals are delivering as much as $250K each to the Empower NYC spending group.
www.thecity.nyc
September 16, 2025 at 1:22 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Federal immigration flaks repeatedly claim there's nothing to see on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. Videos and @thecity.nyc data analysis say otherwise.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/22/v...
‘Like Dogs in Here’ — Videos Expose ICE Lock-up Inside 26 Federal Plaza
An analysis of ICE data by THE CITY shows that dozens of people have packed into locked rooms and increasingly held for days inside a Manhattan building the feds say isn’t a detention site.
www.thecity.nyc
July 22, 2025 at 1:40 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Ex-Deputy Mayor Phil Banks pushed NYPD to assign a crony with zero financial background to a money laundering unit called "El Dorado." Asked why he wanted the gig, the crony said the unit's name "sounded cool."
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/08/f...
July 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Facing a spike in inmate population, NYC Corrections come up empty in their request for more beds.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/08/r...
As Rikers Population Surges, Correction Department Bid to Add Beds Stalls
Despite a growing number of detainees, the city’s jail oversight board rejected a request to expand dorm capacity — leaving officials scrambling for alternatives.
www.thecity.nyc
July 9, 2025 at 3:08 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
A reality check from @thecity.nyc re: Democratic mayoral nominee Mamdani's "free buses" promise.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/08/z...
Can Zohran Mamdani’s Free Bus Promise Get Out of the Parking Lot?
The plan has a high cost — and he’ll need Albany to get it done.
www.thecity.nyc
July 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Independent expenditure committee backing Speaker Adrienne Adams for mayor claims it's a union-backed, but doesn't mention big $$ contribution from DoorDash @clauirizarry.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/17/d...
Union Group Backing Adrienne Adams Is Secretly Funded by DoorDash
Competent New York, founded by municipal union DC 37, has spent nearly $300,000 on ads boosting the City Council speaker’s campaign for mayor, but its only recorded contribution comes from the food de...
www.thecity.nyc
June 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
City launches program providing new e-bikes and safety tested lithium-ion batteries to get their untested unsafe batteries that had triggered hundreds of fires and 33 deaths off the street.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/12/e...
E-Bike ExChange: City Offering New Rides and Batteries for Bad Ones
Transportation and fire officials were on hand for the launch of the program in Washington Heights Thursday. The FDNY commissioner said it was “like trading in a Kia for a Mercedes.”
www.thecity.nyc
June 12, 2025 at 7:18 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Wage theft. Sweatshop conditions. Brooklyn DA files criminal charges against HotHead Grabba owner & managers over dangerous work conditions exposed by THE CITY & @clauirizarry.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/04/b...
Operators of ‘Grabba’ Tobacco Sweatshop Charged With Wage Theft, Reckless Endangerment
In a 74-count indictment, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez charged HotHead Grabba, its owner and top managers in connection with alleged wage theft and health hazards in a tobacco sweatshop empire.
www.thecity.nyc
June 4, 2025 at 6:38 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
The NYPD's aggressive response to 2020 George Floyd protests against police brutality triggered more than 1,000 complaints of excessive force. Five years later @yoavgonen.bsky.social finds only a handful of cops received any type of serious punishment.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/03/n...
Almost Every NYPD Cop Charged with Excessive Force During the George Floyd Protests Escaped Serious Punishment
A review by THE CITY reveals that only five cops cited in the most extreme cases substantiated by the CCRB received significant discipline, and that 10 disciplinary cases still haven’t been resolved a...
www.thecity.nyc
June 3, 2025 at 2:19 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
The Road to City Hall: Speaker Adams gets some good news from the city Campaign Finance Board. Ex-Gov. Cuomo not so much.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/30/a...
Adrienne Adams Wins Mayoral Matching Dollars, Cuomo Again Docked For Alleged Coordination
With the primary weeks away, the Council speaker secures $2 million in her first public funds, while the former governor had $675,000 clawed back over a big-money group's ads that allegedly echoed his...
www.thecity.nyc
May 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
YTDAW: MTA set to spend millions more to firm that designed the glitchy OMNY fare payment system that's triggered 100s of complaints.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/28/m...
MTA Approves Millions More for OMNY Chatbot in Buggy System
As complaints mount about the new tap-and-go cards for buses and subways, transit officials have approved $13 million extra for AI help services — on top of a nearly $600 million original contract.
www.thecity.nyc
May 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
One of the true stars of the New York City press universe @tommyrobb.bsky.social is gone. Words cannot describe the loss, or what our city will be missing going forward. We at @thecity.nyc did our best to convey his amazing legacy:
www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/28/r...
Remembering Tom Robbins, Journalist Who Crusaded for New Yorkers in Need
A stint on THE CITY’s investigations team capped a career exposing the corrupt and the criminal on behalf of tenants, workers and incarcerated people.
www.thecity.nyc
May 29, 2025 at 3:19 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio finally agreed to pay the city $320,000 for his misuse of an NYPD detail during his fantasy White House bid. But @thecity.nyc discovers taxpayers are still on the hook:
www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/21/d...
De Blasio Sued City Hall and Lost. Here’s How Much It’s Costing Us
The former mayor apologized to New Yorkers and agreed to pay for his past NYPD protection on the presidential campaign trail. But taxpayers still paid to defend a "meritless" lawsuit he filed to avoid...
www.thecity.nyc
May 21, 2025 at 9:06 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Fed documents show how a proxy for the Uzbeki government choreographed straw donations to purchase the legitimacy of the Office of the Mayor to sanitize his human rights-challenged nation.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/21/e...
Feds’ Files on Eric Adams Reveal Uzbek Influence Campaign That Yielded Election Cash
FBI agents probing the mayor surface text exchanges with a proxy of the central Asian government — with Adams demanding contributions while boosting a repressive regime’s image.
www.thecity.nyc
May 21, 2025 at 1:45 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Investigation by @thecity.nyc finds since a big corruption takedown last year NYC Housing Authority has awarded millions of $ in contracts to vendors who admitted bribing dozens of Housing Authority supers
www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/16/n...
NYCHA Paid Out Millions to Bribe-Paying Contractors Implicated in Corruption Takedown
An investigation by THE CITY finds contractors who publicly confessed to paying thousands of bribes to Housing Authority staff were subsequently awarded hundreds of no-bid contracts. NYCHA says it had...
www.thecity.nyc
April 16, 2025 at 6:28 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Inside the Looking Glass Alternative Universe of New York City public housing
www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/07/w...
Wheelchair User Trapped at Rehab Sues NYCHA for Accessible Apartment
Susan Bourne was disabled by a stroke in 2013. Instead of making her apartment accessible, NYCHA has waged a yearslong campaign to evict her.
www.thecity.nyc
April 7, 2025 at 2:21 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Judge tosses NYC Mayor Adams' corruption case, but also charges Trump Justice Department's intervention to aid its immigration deportation campaign "smacks of a bargain."
www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/02/m...
Judge Dismisses Eric Adams Corruption Case
Judge Dale Ho’s decision to dismiss the charges “with prejudice” means the Trump administration cannot bring them again — removing leverage it sought over the mayor.
www.thecity.nyc
April 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Early this week Mayor Adams said he was "fighting" to get matching funds denied to his campaign back in December. Three months later THE CITY finds zero evidence of this "fight."
www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/28/e...
Eric Adams Has Made Zero Effort to Challenge His Campaign Matching Funds Denial
The mayor claims he’s “fighting” to get $4 million in public dollars the city Campaign Finance Board declined to provide in light of his corruption indictment. But three months in, his campaign has ye...
www.thecity.nyc
March 28, 2025 at 7:03 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
NEW Another top aide to NYC Mayor Eric Adams exits: chief procurement officer Lisa Flores suddenly puts in her papers. Other top aides have hit the road, some after law enforcement inquires, others protesting Adams' deal with Trump re: dismissing his criminal case.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/22/l...
City Contracts Commissioner Resigns Suddenly, Latest Adams Appointee to Bow Out
Lisa Flores was one of Eric Adams’ first appointments, in charge of tens of billions of dollars of business with nonprofits and private vendors.
www.thecity.nyc
March 22, 2025 at 11:09 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Obscure NYC board controlled by Mayor Adams would have to approve Trump Organization's bid to run Wollman Rink - and confront the company's criminal and civil judgments.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/20/t...
Trump Organization’s Criminal Record Clouds Its Bid to Reclaim Wollman Rink
A board controlled by Mayor Eric Adams has ultimate say on the Central Park concession — and must find a “satisfactory record of business integrity” for whichever firm operates it next.
www.thecity.nyc
March 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Boro-based jail goal to close Rikers Island by 2027 has a capacity for 4,100. Jail census just surpassed 7,000 for the first time since pre-pandemic. @reuvenblau.bsky.social explains why.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/20/r...
City Jail Population Surpasses 7,000, Headed in Wrong Direction for Close-Rikers Plan
By law, the city will be legally barred from using Rikers jails after 2027, but the move-out can happen only if there are less than 5,000 people behind bars.
www.thecity.nyc
March 20, 2025 at 2:56 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
NEW Trump Organization pushing Mayor Adams' team to operate Wollman Rink after mayor's office blows off $120 million Central Park Conservancy offer to replace and run it. Meanwhile Adams' awaits OK of Trump Justice Department dismissal of his criminal case...
www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/15/t...
Trump Org Presses Eric Adams for Wollman Rink Rights After City Hall Spurned $120M Nonprofit Gift
The Central Park Conservancy offered $120 million to run the skating oasis. City Hall instead solicited bids just days after the election — handing the president a prized opportunity while Adams’ lawy...
www.thecity.nyc
March 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
NEW The longtime pal Eric Adams put in charge of city leases pushed a brokerage that helps the city on those multi-million $ transactions to assign a friend he called "my broker" to handle those leases.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/02/13/j...
Jesse Hamilton Forced Real Estate Firm to Assign Broker Pal to City Account, Suit Alleges
The Adams ally, his real estate buddy Diana Boutross and former Adams advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin all vacationed together in Japan — and had their phones seized by law enforcement when they returned.
www.thecity.nyc
February 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
Tech firm pitching fast charging EV hubs put on fast track after hiring former top aide to NYC Mayor
www.thecity.nyc/2025/01/27/g...
Tech Startup Gets on Fast Track to Install Sidewalk EV Charging Towers After Hiring Eric Adams’ Power Broker
Gravity Technologies is preparing to plant “trees” to juice up city agency vehicles, with help from the lobbying firm founded by the mayor’s former chief of staff, Frank Carone.
www.thecity.nyc
January 27, 2025 at 2:16 PM
gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social
After documenting top city election official's sexually inappropriate and racially biased harassment of 2 women staffers, Dept. of Investigation recommends he be fired or resign. City elections board docks him 15 days pay, but keeps him on the payroll.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/01/08/b...
Board of Elections Docked Director 15 Days Instead of Recommended Termination for Harassment
Michael Ryan remains in his job after getting a break from the board, whose chair was officially responsible for tackling gender discrimination at CUNY.
www.thecity.nyc
January 8, 2025 at 10:18 PM