Get Out: Adams Opens Campaign Office In Building With Vacate Order

By Katie Honan, The City

August 11, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams cut the ribbon on a new campaign office on Thursday, but the Brooklyn storefront it’s inside has a full vacate order following a wall collapse two years ago — meaning technically it isn’t supposed to be occupied.

On May 7, 2023, a 75-foot section of masonry brick collapsed and fell off of a stretch of stores from 5801 to 5815 Avenue T, records show. The Department of Buildings at the time issued a full vacate order, which is still in effect.

The Mill Basin building’s owner, listed as 5803 Realty LLC, put in permits to repair the parapet wall and roof but has not requested a re-inspection, according to a DOB spokesperson.

“The owners can call up the Department and request a reinspection, so that DOB can conduct an inspection, review findings from their engineer, and potentially consider lifting the Vacate Order,” the spokesperson, Andrew Rudansky, told THE CITY in an email.

The gates were rolled down Friday afternoon at the Eric Adams reelection campaign’s new Brooklyn office, one day after the mayor attended an opening celebration. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY

The owners were issued permits for construction work, and also submitted a letter of completion, which shows the work is done, on Feb. 28, 2024, records show. But without a re-inspection, no certificate of occupancy can be issued.

The building seemed fully patched up as Adams and his supporters cut the ribbon outside of 5809 Avenue T on Thursday morning, later celebrating inside with pastries and fruit. Volunteers handed out Eric Adams T-shirts and hand fans.

The other businesses on the stretch — including a laundromat, a Chinese restaurant, and a clothing boutique — are also occupied despite having full vacate orders.

The Adams campaign office happens to share space with the new permanent home of the famed Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, which moved from its decades-long home in Canarsie in May after the building went on the market for $1.5 million.

A spokesperson for Adams’s campaign, Todd Shapiro, said they have put in a request for a re-inspection, although as of Friday morning, that was not in the system, according to the DOB. Shapiro also said the campaign hasn’t fully moved in yet.

Adams speaks with reporters inside his Avenue T campaign office in Brooklyn, Aug. 7, 2025. Credit: Katie Honan/THE CITY

“While the location is not yet open, we are working closely with the building’s current owners and city agencies to ensure full compliance,” he said. “A stop work order and lack of Certificate of Occupancy remain due to a prior owner’s failure to request re-inspection after submitting necessary documents.”

The building’s primary owner, listed on mortgage documents connected to the LLC as Abe Betesh, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Frank Seddio, a former president and longtime leader of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club as well as a former chair of the Brooklyn Democratic party, told THE CITY the club also has not officially moved into the space yet. ”Probably sometime in September,” he said in a text.

He did not directly answer if he knew about the vacate order.

A federal indictment against Adams, unsealed in September, which was later dropped by the Trump administration, in part involved alleged favors the mayor exchanged with the government of Turkey to expedite a consulate with the DOB and FDNY.

Campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro (center) and other supporters of Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection bid stand on Avenue T in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, Aug. 7. 2025. Credit: Katie Honan / THE CITY

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.