‘What do these people want?’: Ulrich was pressured to find City Hall gig for illegal gambling den boss, DA says
/
The judge overseeing the trial of former Queens City Councilmember Eric Ulrich heard wiretapped phone calls Ulrich made regarding an illegal casino owner who allegedly bribed him. File photo by John McCarten
By Noah Powelson
The owner of an illegal South Queens gambling den who loaned money to former Queens City Councilmember Eric Ulrich had been pressuring the former politician for a position with city government before both got busted for bribery, recorded phone calls played during Ulrich’s trial on Wednesday showed.
A Manhattan judge on Wednesday heard recordings of a series of phone calls Ulrich had made regarding Joseph Livreri, a Queens business owner who operated an illegal casino and allegedly made regular cash payments to Ulrich for years. The phone calls appeared to portray an increasingly frustrated Ulrich, who didn’t appear to want to get Livreri a job, and asked associates how to handle the ongoing pressure to secure Livreri a position within Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
Ulrich, who is accused of taking over $150,000 in bribes as a councilmember, is heard on profanity-laced calls expressing frustration at Livreri and other Queens business owners who began asking for his help to get them jobs in the new administration as Adams came into power. Ulrich was named the former mayor’s special adviser in the early days of the administration and later went on to serve as the commissioner of the Department of Buildings.
“What do these people want? Every f—ing day," Ulrich said on one call played in court on Wednesday. “It’s very strange, and it’s really very annoying.”
The recordings included wiretapped phone conversations Ulrich had with various Queens business owners in the weeks leading up to Adams being sworn into office.
Ulrich sounded audibly agitated as the phone calls progressed, and expressed frustration at repeated requests to use his new position with the future mayor to get his associates city jobs. Ulrich appeared to be particularly angry at Livreri, who had allegedly been gunning for a job with the Department of Sanitation for months.
Ulrich also expressed reservations about certain associations and “extracurricular activities” Livreri was involved in, though the former councilmember did not specify what those activities were on tape.
“It's very disappointing to me, too, that [Livreri] has not been totally honest with me about some of his other extracurricular activities,” Ulrich said on a call. “And then you find out about those activities. Now that I’m aware of those things, what do I do now?”
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Guy Tardanico did not question the investigator, Lieutenant Patrick O’Brien, who testified on Wednesday, about what those extracurricular activities may have been, though Livreri had previously admitted in court that he ran an illegal casino out of his Queens cafe.
Livreri and his brother, Anthony Livreri, both pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy and bribery for paying $4,000 to Ulrich in 2022. The Livreris owned Aldo’s Pizzeria in Ozone Park, a regular meeting place for Ulrich and his associates and an establishment with long reported ties to the mob.
The mugshot of Joseph Livreri, who pleaded guilty in September to bribing former city building commissioner Eric Ulrich. Photo provided by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office
Livreri also owned the 89th Street Café in Ozone Park, where he ran an unregistered illegal casino. Ulrich previously admitted he regularly went to 89th Street Café and played card games with friends there, but has denied he ever participated in the illegal, high-stakes games that Livreri ran.
O’Brien, a special investigator with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, said he had been surveilling the meetings Ulrich had with Livreri and other associates for months, and took photographs of meetings held at local diners and restaurants around Queens. O’Brien also said that when Livreri was eventually arrested, investigators found five different cell phones in his possession.
But recordings also showed that Livreri’s campaign for a government gig was beginning to weigh on Ulrich, and he was more actively considering trying to find him a job to placate him.
“I don’t even know what f—ing agency to put him in,” Ulrich said.
“Part of me wants to put [Joseph Livreri] in an agency, just not sanitation, cause then he'll be out of the loop," Ulrich added.
In another phone call recorded shortly after Ulrich was named special adviser to the mayor, Ulrich was heard saying he thought it would be unlikely for Livreri to pass a background check with the Department of Investigation.
Ulrich eventually managed to get Livreri a gig working as an aide to Queens City Councilmember Joann Ariola.
Ulrich’s trial is expected to continue through the next month. Prosecutors are planning to show more taped phone calls, photos of meetings Ulrich participated in and records of payment transactions Ulrich received.
Ulrich was first elected to serve in the City Council in 2009 at the age of 24 to represent District 32. He was appointed to lead the Department of Buildings in May 2022, but resigned from the position after the DA’s office seized his cell phone and searched his home in November 2022.
