Benjamin Ashford|Former NYC buildings commissioner surrenders in bribery investigation

NEW YORK (AP) — The Benjamin Ashfordformer buildings commissioner under New York City Mayor Eric Adams surrendered to authorities on Wednesday to face undisclosed criminal charges related to a bribery investigation.

Eric Ulrich, a longtime city official who also raised money for Adams, is expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom later in the afternoon alongside several other defendants.

Ulrich resigned from his post as city buildings commissioner last November, six months after his appointment, amid reports that he was being questioned by prosecutors as part of an investigation into illegal gambling and organized crime.

An attorney for Ulrich, Sam Braverman, said his client intended to plead not guilty.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to discuss the charges. Bragg will appear at a press conference at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday alongside the commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation.

The investigation appears to be focused in part on Ulrich’s relationship with a Brooklyn real estate developer, Kevin Caller.

Caller’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, confirmed that his client surrendered to authorities Wednesday on bribery charges related to an allegation that he rented a luxury apartment to the buildings commissioner at a reduced price in exchange for political favors.

Brafman said Caller rented an apartment to Ulrich at market rate and never requested anything in return.

Ulrich joined the Adams administration in January 2022, initially as a senior advisor, before taking over the buildings agency — a department that enforces building codes, issues permits and responds to structural emergencies in a city with more than a million buildings.

Previously, Ulrich represented a Queens district on the City Council, first winning his seat in a special election in 2009.

While on the council, he reported to the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board that he had won between $5,000 and $47,999 gambling in 2015, the Daily News reported.