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Ex-New York City Buildings Commisher Eric Ulrich was a “compromised politician” so desperate for cash that he accepted bribes — including $10,000 Mets season tickets — so his inner circle could be closer to former Mayor Eric Adams, Manhattan prosecutors said Monday at the start of his trial.
“They say politics is the art of the possible, but for these defendants, public office was nothing more than an office for personal gain,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Guy Tardanico charged, pointing at Ulrich, 41, and co-defendant Michael Mazzio, during opening statements of the corruption trial.
Ulrich, a former Republican city councilman, and Mazzio, the operator of a Brooklyn towing company, are finally standing trial more than three years after the pair were indicted for allegedly trading political favors for tens of thousands of dollars worth of bribes.
Prosecutors said Ulrich, who led the DOB for just six months before disgracefully resigning, “betrayed the public’s trust” when he used the position to allow short cuts for friends, who returned the favor by padding his wallet with “tens of thousands of dollars.”
In one instance, Ulrich allegedly used his power to clean up a mouse infestation at Aldo’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, owned by co-defendants Anthony and Joseph Livreri, on Valentine’s Day 2022.
The Livreri brothers, who pleaded guilty last month to bribery and conspiracy charges, needed the restaurant back open when a health inspector closed it down after finding hundreds of fresh mice droppings.
“The Livreri’s immediately called Eric Ulrich,” Tardanico said, adding that the then-buildings commissioner initially said he he couldn’t get involved because he was afraid he’d “lose his job.”
But Ulrich, who’d dump half of his government paychecks at Resorts World Casino, couldn’t say no for long, prosecutors said.
“Less than two hours later, you’ll learn he got involved anyway,” said Tardancio, previewing how Ulrich allegedly got the pizza parlor up and running later that night after involving the mayor’s office with the DOB inspection.
Prosecutors alleged Ulrich received funds in electronic payments, a 20-game Mets premium ticket package, and cold hard cash — including a $4,000 payoff in a parking lot.
Ulrich then allegedly made “deliberate efforts” to hide the payments from annual financial disclosures.
Evidence expected at trial will include surveillance photos, financial and government records, phone calls and text messages — including one recorded call where Ulrich can be heard verbally counting money, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Ulrich’s attorney, David Jason Cohen, spoke highly of Ulrich’s one-time budding political career, calling him a “rising star” who had too much to lose to take bribes.
“Call him an addicted gambler, call him an alcoholic, call him a foul-mouthed, politically incorrect politician,” the attorney said. But Ulrich’s “office was never for sale,” his lawyer added.
“A young man who built a political career from nothing does not throw it away from accepting bribes — especially from his two friends at the time,” Cohen said.
Defense attorney James Froccaro, who is representing Mazzio, said his client and Ulrich are just the “bestest friends” who talked about their problems.
“He never bribed or was a plot to bribe his best friend Eric Ulrich to do anything for him or anything,” Froccaro said.
Prosecutors have accused Ulrich of landing Mazzio’s daughter a higher-paying city job in exchange for Mets tickets and cash to cover his gambling losses.
Ulrich is charged with multiple counts of offering a false instrument for filing and bribery.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
He is the first of several Adams allies to go to trial.
Longtime Adams adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin currently has an ongoing criminal case in Manhattan for allegedly taking cash to help real estate developers win city contracts. She has pleaded not guilty.
Frank Carone, a friend and former chief of staff to Adams, is charged federally for allegedly using his City Hall pull to help a Long Island City hotel land a multimillion-dollar shelter contract. Prosecutors have said Carone accepted $120,000 in bribes.
Ulrich was arrested in September 2023 with a total of 16 felonies that spread across five indictments stemming from his time served in three political posts — including as a Queens councilmember and a stint as a senior advisor to former Mayor Eric Adams.
He lasted only six months in the buildings commissioner role before he resigned following an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
The bench trial, in front of Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Daniel Conviser, is expected to last six weeks.
If convicted, Ulrich could face up to 15 years in prison.
The trial will resume Tuesday.