NYC's Behemoth $432M Migrant Contract Rejected: Comptroller

NEW YORK CITY — A controversial $432 million contract to provide shelter services for New York City's asylum seekers got rejected by city Comptroller Brad Lander, but Mayor Eric Adams said it'll go forward regardless.

Lander, in an announcement Wednesday, said too many outstanding concerns swirled around DocGo — the medical services company awarded the behemoth no-bid — to let the deal stand.

"There was little evidence to show that this company has the experience to provide the services it has been contracted for," he said in a statement.

But Mayor Eric Adams said the city will still move forward with the contract.

He said Lander's office had previously approved the contract — an assertion that the comptroller told the New York Times only applied to its emergency use.

"I think the comptroller just saw an opportunity to be part of the conversation," Adams said.

A rejection letter sent by Lander to the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development — which sought the emergency contract — further details potential problems with DocGo, including a recent report that its CEO sought the contract as leverage to win a $4 billion for the U.S. border.

CEO Anthony Capone told investors that political gridlock over the border will keep its revenues strong, the letter states, citing reporting by The Times Union.

"If DocGo’s CEO is rooting for a never-ending crisis to maximize revenues on a $432 million contract with New York City and leverage billions of dollars more from the federal government – amidst procurement concerns from our Office about vendor selection, vendor responsibility, fiscal capacity, and subcontractor selection, as well as several ongoing investigations by other public agencies – HPD may want to reconsider whether this vendor is appropriate for the services described," Lander wrote.

DocGo was the subject of a lengthy New York Times report in July that detailed how the company transitioned from a COVID-19 testing enterprise to a migrant care-focused business.

Migrants told the Times that the company's falsehood lured them from New York City to Albany, where local security guards repeatedly threatened them.