By: Benyamin Davidsons

New York City’s Buildings Department has ordered a halt to construction at a Midtown hotel owned by a woman who donated to Mayor Eric Adams. As reported by Crain’s NY, the stop work order came on Wednesday, as a result of a scathing news report which said that the project had been allowed to proceed despite multiple problems, possibly thanks to ties with Mayor. The project site at the center of the controversy is a hotel being built at 317-319 West 35th St. in Midtown Manhattan by developer Weihong Hu.

In May, a news report by The City alleged that the hotel’s developer had raised tens of thousands of dollars for Adams’ 2021 campaign, and had subsequently benefited from millions of dollars in city contracts after Mayor Adams took office. The article details that Hu began building a 25–story Midtown hotel in 2021. The article says that the developer was told by the city’s housing department that the new building had to include affordable housing. In March 2021, the Buildings Department under Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a stop-work order at the 35th street site, noting the violation.

Per Crain’s, after Adams became mayor, Hu reportedly tapped the Rev. Alfred Cockfield III, who is a friend of Adam’s, to push for the stop work order to be lifted. By November 2022, construction on the project was allowed to proceed, and two tenement-style apartment buildings at the site were demolished. The City’s recent article asks why the permission was given. The DOB acknowledges that the project lacks the full approvals required for the project— namely for demolishing the residential units. Neighborhood leaders, including the West Side’s Community Board 4, had worked to secure a commitment from NYC to include housing at the site, The City reported.

The undoing of the stop work order was the result of “miscommunication” between different city agencies, allowing construction to continue even though the hotel was being built in violation of a city commitment to build housing at that site, DOB spokesman Andrew Rudansky said in a statement. The DOB spokesman said the department “was made aware of potential approval issues by our partners” at the Housing Preservation and Development Department, and conducted an audit in response.

“The owners and their applicant of record will be required to demonstrate full compliance with zoning prior to resuming work at the site,” Rudansky said. He added that city agencies are now “discussing ways to prevent this miscommunication from happening in the future,” potentially by creating one unified certification document from HPD. Rudansky did not say whether the developer would be forced to include housing in the project. Hu must “demonstrate compliance” with the rules to resolve the objection, according to DOB.

ayor Adams, responding last week to reporters’ questions at a press conference, said he “didn’t intercede at all” on the project. “People call city government all the time to try to get through the bureaucracy,” the Mayor said. “Everyone has to follow the rules.”