Fired NYC Official Sues City For $5 Million

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A former city official is suing Mayor Bill de Blasio for $5 million, accusing the mayor and his administration of retaliating against him when he tried to uncover corruption.

Ricardo Morales, a former deputy commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, filed suit on Wednesday. He accused de Blasio and the city government of retaliating against him by firing him.

Morales, who was fired in February 2017, said in the suit that he "objected repeatedly to conduct by de Blasio and other city officials."

Morales said that when he was fired in 2017, the administration was "sending a message...about what happens if you oppose the personal interests of De Blasio, even if your opposition is guided by legal and ethical obligations."

A large portion of Morales' suit focuses on how the city handled the Rivington House scandal, which saw a Lower East Side nursing home for patients with AIDS sold to luxury developers for millions of dollars. The stunning sale, which outraged local community members and displaced dozens of residents, was allowed thanks to a deed restriction change approved by the city.

The plot of land where the empty Rivington House currently stands, at 45 Rivington St., was restricted by a deed that mandated the land be used for nonprofit healthcare purposes. Months the building's after the Allure Group, a healthcare group, bought the building 2015, the city approved a deed change for the property and accepted $16.15 million in payment. With the deed restriction lifted, the property could be used for purposes beside nonprofit healthcare.

The Allure Group later sold the property to luxury developers for $116 million, after having purchased the property just years earlier for $28 million.

The scandal sparked multiple inquiries into how the deed restriction was lifted. In his suit, Morales claimed that city officials wanted to cover-up the role of the Mayor's office in the scandal but backed down after his objections.

The lawsuit claims that during a meeting with city officials and mayoral aides, an aide attempted to craft a "narrative that was not true" about how the situation unfolded.

"It was obvious to Morales…that the Mayor’s office was attempting to portray a false narrative at the City Council hearing," the lawsuit claimed.

The narrative was not ultimately made public.

Morales said he has been unable to find a job since he was fired.

"As we’ve said 5,000 times, the administration acted appropriately," City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said in a statement to the New York Post, which first reported on the lawsuit.

Image credit: Courtesy of Google Maps