City Council questions Parks contracting after convicted landscapers keep multimillion-dollar tree contracts

Council members on the New York City Council’s Contracts and Parks and Recreation committees questioned city procurement officials and Parks aides on Aug. 13 about why the city continues to award large tree and landscaping contracts to firms with criminal convictions.

Chair Krishnan opened the hearing by saying the committees would “examine the parks department’s contracting practices on the accountability of its vendors” and noted several high-profile cases, including a roughly $40 million parks contract for Dragonetti Brothers and a $25 million award to Griffin’s Landscaping despite criminal findings and convictions tied to both firms.

The hearing drew testimony from the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS) and New York City Parks. John Katsores, deputy city chief procurement officer at MOCS, described the city’s vendor-responsibility framework and the Passport system used to collect vendor disclosures and flags. Katsores said agencies must complete a “vendor responsibility determination” on a contract-by-contract basis and that the Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules require awards to responsible vendors; he added that, under current policy and legal constraints, “vendors are not subject to debarment except in very limited circumstances prescribed by state law.”

Matt Drury, citywide chief of legislative affairs for New York City Parks, said Parks follows citywide procurement rules, conducts background checks, and consults with the Law Department and MOCS when adverse information arises. Drury and Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Greenfeld described operational steps Parks has taken to…