Councilmember Investigated Over Possible Bribes In Shelter Contracting, And What Else Happened This Week in Housing – City Limits

Federal investigators are looking into whether Councilmember Farah Louis helped steer shelter contracts to a nonprofit in exchange for benefits.

The city’s migrant shelters are once again at the center of a corruption investigation.

Councilmember Farah Louis, who represents Flatbush and Canarsie in the City Council, is being investigated for whether she played a role in steering migrant shelter contracts to a vendor in exchange for kickbacks or benefits. The Associated Press first reported the probe.

Federal investigators named Louis and her sister, Debbie—who is an aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul—in a warrant last month and raided their homes last week, according to a Politico report. Four other people were arrested in relation to the investigation this week.

During an influx of asylum seekers that saw the city’s shelter population rise to over 150,000 residents in 2023 and 2024, the city contracted millions out to provide emergency shelter for migrants.

One of those contractors was BHRAGS Home Care, a nonprofit that cares for the elderly. BRAGHS received over $185 million in city contracts since 2022, records show.

Investigators were seeking information about whether the Louis sisters as well as Ed Hermelyn, husband of Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Bichotte Hermelyn, accepted bribes in exchange for steering shelter contracts to BHRAGS.

It’s not the first time emergency migrant shelter contracts may have been used for personal gain. Last year, Manhattan prosecutors indicted Eric Adams advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin alleging that she aided a property owner in securing leases to house asylum seekers in exchange for bribes and benefits.

Here’s what else happened this week—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

• Record numbers of New Yorkers called 311 to report heat and hot water outages during this winter’s cold snap. But a quirk of the city housing agency’s response procedure meant that buildings with multiple complaints saw thousands of them closed without direct follow up. The Mamdani administration thinks the system is ripe for reform.

ICYMI from other local newsrooms: 

• The demolition and replacement of two NYCHA complexes in Chelsea has become a crucial issue in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler in Congress, according to Gothamist.

• Construction on a controversial men’s shelter in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, has resumed despite two years of protests, according to amNY.
• The City Council’s preliminary budget proposal does not include an expansion of the CityFHEPS rental voucher program among its priorities, reports City & State.
• “Bad landlords” can be hard for Zohran Mamdani’s administration to find, as corporate owners and investor groups are increasingly shielding their identities behind limited liability companies, reports the AP.