FDNY chief reportedly pressured to approve construction of Turkish consulate despite security concerns

NEW YORK — Fire chiefs told FBI investigators in April that they were pressured to approve the new Turkish consulate building despite safety concerns, according to a lawyer representing one of the chiefs.

“My client was pressured into doing something dangerous,” said attorney Jim Walden, who represents Joseph Jardin, former FDNY Fire Prevention Chief.

Walden says Jardin is one of several current and former FDNY officials who were approached and questioned by the FBI in the spring about a campaign to accelerate Turkish construction.

“It was very clear to my client, and now it is clear to the FBI, that the people responsible (for the approval) felt that if they didn’t do it they would be fired,” Walden said.

But he declined to say who specifically threatened the bosses’ jobs, citing his desire not to impede an ongoing investigation. Walden says he has spoken to several witnesses who told investigators that pressure to perform political favors has been a problem at the FDNY since the de Blasio administration. “The FBI was told that it got to the point where a list began to circulate internally about projects that the City Council wanted to expedite.”

The round of FBI interviews last spring came months before news broke about an investigation into Turkish campaign donations to Mayor Adams and his advocacy related to that building in the months before his appointment as mayor. Adams acknowledges that he texted former FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro asking for help obtaining a letter from the FDNY that would allow the Department of Buildings to issue a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy. Two sources who saw the text message exchange say Adams explained that the Buildings Department would agree if the Fire Department agreed. The then commissioner Nigro agreed to investigate the situation.

Adams’ request arrived on September 5, 2021. Just a month earlier, the consulate’s fire protection plan had been disapproved. The inspectors were not scheduled to return to the site until November, but Turkish diplomats were on a tight schedule.

The emails obtained by our sister chain NBC NewYork and confirmed by several people on the chain show that the Turkish government had REBNY contractors, municipal officials, and real estate industry representatives fighting to get FDNY approval, and that Turkish officials would be heading to the city in the near future.

Messages in emails

“Guys, we’re going to have an international incident if we don’t get the FDNY there next week,” one of the contractors said. “The UN General Assembly is in three weeks and the Turkish president wants his building. Can you help me?”

Emails show that then-County President Eric Adams was not the only person who asked about an expedited approval process for the consulate.

On August 31, several days before Eric Adams sent a text message to then-Commissioner Nigro, then-Mayor de Blasio’s Buildings Commissioner Melanie Larocca sent an email to Mayor Adams’ future Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, who was serving as first deputy commissioner at the time. Larocca wrote: “Hi Laura, I hope you are well! FYI, you might want to chime in here, this is a property of the Government of Turkey and is their future embassy. It seems that then [sic] we need action from the FD.”

Kavanagh responded two hours later: “We will look into it,” quoting his intergovernmental assistant Jason Shelly.

In a subsequent email, Shelly emailed Jardin and Deputy Chief Kevin Brennan to say, “Laura asked me to see if they could help with this request she received from the DOB commissioner.” Shelly asked: “Is it possible for inspectors to arrive on site sooner? They are asking for next week… Please tell us what is realistic and we will update Laura.”

Walden says FDNY experts believed there was no way the system could have been put into operation in the short month since it failed inspection.

Firefighters acknowledge that the sprinkler and fire alarm systems were not yet ready and that is why no temporary certificate of occupancy had been issued.

“It seems like, from what I know, they weren’t actually looking for an actual inspection, but rather a rubber stamp,” Walden said. “That if they pulled the right strings, a new series of inspections would occur and it would magically be determined that the system [contra incendios] it worked”.

Walden suggested Kavanagh and his team were involved in the alleged pressure campaign, but firefighters say Kavanagh did not pressure bosses. However, they left open the possibility that other members of the FDNY could have applied pressure.

Emails obtained by NBC New York they do not reflect the type of pressure that Walden describes. A source familiar with the text message exchange said former Commissioner Nigro responded to Mayor Adams at one point indicating that there were conflicting opinions internally about whether the Turkish consulate could be expedited.

In a statement, FDNY chief spokesman Jim Long said: “Internal emails make clear that Commissioner Kavanagh had no significant involvement in how the FDNY handled this request and there is nothing to suggest the FDNY was pressured.” to do something inappropriate.

Chief Jardin is currently one of several plaintiffs in an ongoing age discrimination lawsuit against Fire Commissioner Kavanagh. Jim Walden is also the attorney in that case.

An amended copy of the lawsuit challenges Kavanagh on several other issues, alleging that he opposed Jardin’s desire to publicly support a ban on lithium-iron batteries in NYCHA housing in the past and sidelined experts by put its civilian staff largely in charge of replacing firefighters’ breathing equipment. After Kavanaugh demoted several top FDNY chiefs earlier this year, others asked to be demoted in protest of Kavanagh’s leadership. Walden says allegations of pressure on the Turkish consulate would have been included in his lawsuit but for the fact that the FBI wanted the matter to remain confidential while it was investigated.

But Long, the FDNY spokesman, dismissed Walden and Jardin’s criticism as coming from critics with an ax to grind.

“This just seems like an attempt by someone who is unsuccessfully suing the FDNY and Commissioner Kavanagh, and who has a financial interest in undermining the fire commissioner and tarnishing his good name.”

Mayor Adams told NBC New York Tuesday that Commissioner Nigro was the only FDNY employee he contacted about the consulate.

Fire officials say Adams did not contact Kavanagh at the time, but they say someone at de Blasio City Hall did check on the status of the building.

Still, firefighters say they receive dozens of similar requests each week.

Calls to former Buildings Commissioner LaRocca, former Mayor Bill de Blasio and consulate contractors were not returned.

The New York Real Estate Board, which helped with the consulate issue, noted that during 2021, Covid had contributed to a slower FDNY inspection process.

“At the time it was widely understood that the FDNY had a very long turnaround time for processing plans and inspecting buildings, making such requests especially common in several buildings around the city,” said REBNY spokesperson Sam Spokony.

In the end, Türkiye got what it wanted. On September 10, 2021, five days after Mayor Adams’ initial text message, Chief Jardin signed a conditional no-objection letter that essentially relegated the power to approve temporary occupancy to the Department of Buildings, but only if the DOB carried out a successful fire test. Alarm and suppression systems.

Walden says that conditional letter was Jardin’s way of expressing his displeasure with the situation. But one city member asked: If Jardin was so concerned about safety, why did he sign it?