NYC Conflicts of Interest Board June 29, 2017
The Enforcement Unit
2 Lafayette Street, Suite 1010
New York, NY 10007
Attn: Department of Investigation
This letter is to alert you of a serious conflict of interest involving Musa Moore. Mr. Moore has been a member of Brooklyn Community Board 9 since 2014. On October 4, 2017, the former Chairman of CB9, Mr. Lawrence resigned and Musa began to run for the Chairman position and was elected to the CB9 Executive Board as Chairman of CB9 in November 2016. He currently serves as a voting member and chair of the Executive Committee. He also is the chair of the Community Board, and currently is running the entire CB9 office, because for the last two years there has been no District Manager and only one staff has been employed.
Employed At the Same Time Became a Chair of CB9
Mr. Moore at the same time he was running for the chairmanship of CB9 he became employed by two Real Estate Companies, Riverside Developers USA, Inc. and S & G Reality I LLC as a Real Estate Lobbyist who target NYC Council Members in regards to real estate deals. Since his employment as a Lobbyist and Chairman of CB9 he has received $52,200 from his employers.
In fact S&G Reality and Riverside Developers not only hired him to be a lobbyist but they also hire other lobbyist to target Community Boards! What better place can they be in to have the very entity that they lobby work for them!
Responsiblities of Chairman of CB9
As a Chairman of the Community Board Musa Moore is responsible for the oversee of the entire board including conduct and behavior regarding his board members. He can appoint board members and community residents for committees and he is the only person who appoints the chairs of these committees.
Musa's Behavior in favor of Real Estate Development
There are several actions that have occurred that show his conflict of Interest in regards to real estate issues in the Community during his tenure as CB9’s chairman.
1. Allowed CB9 to be a lead Applicant on a Rezoning without Review
Musa Moor, allowed Mr. Michael Librud who is chairman of the ULURP committee (the committee that makes determinations on Landuse issues) to present a proposal for CB9 to engage in a rezoning application with the Department of City Planning “DCP” in violation of the Open Meetings Law and the City Charter.
Musa was told at the time of the vote and subsequent events that it was illegal for CB9 to engage in a rezoning with a private entity and that any application that a community board votes on must be presented at the time of the vote.
However, in an effort to support a rezoning regarding real estate in the form of an upzoning, this application was allowed to be submitted to the DCP without any review or approval by the community board.
Because the Department of City Planning has a lot of leeway regarding parameters, they don’t have to disclose their motives, decisions or judgments until an application is certified thus beginning the ULURP process. With CB9 as the lead applicant on the rezoning application a whole host of rezoning changes maybe done that would absolutely benefit the Real Estate Industry with the approval of CB9.
By the time DCP would be obligated to provide these determinations to the community, CB9 would be purely advisory and have no power to change the scope direction or intention of this rezoning.
However, because CB9 is the lead applicant on the application DCP will have the political cover it needs to state that these changes were done with the approval of the CB9 to which Musa Moore is the chairman of.
2. Riverside Lobbyists Present at meeting with DCP and CB9!
On February 21, 2017 at the first meeting between CB9 and DCP to discuss the above rezoning application, stated above, Musa Moore and Jacob Guttiman, both lobbyists for Riverside Developers attended this meeting.
The community residents and CB9 board members had been told the Fennimore application was simply a request for a downzoning of half a block, so why would two lobbyists from Riverside Developers be present at this small intimate meeting? A simple downzoning of a half a block poses no potential benefits to a large scale developer, unless of course there were other possible outcomes as noted above.
Secondly, how would Mr. Guttiman be aware of this meeting, when no notices were sent out to the community. The only way anyone would know is if they had inside knowledge.
3. Allowed ULURP Chair to Commence Rezoning without Approval or Support!
Michael Liburd commenced in May 2017 two public meeting with Borough President Eric Adams, stating that a district wide rezoning was going to commence which will allow the entire community to be rezoned under the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program in an effort to protect the community with a downzoning. This was done despite the fact that in 2015, the CB9 and the CB9’s ULURP committee, who chair was Mr. Liburd voted No to the MIH program!
Michael Liburd was not given any authority to commence a rezoning for the entire community. He did not gain support from his committee, the community, or the residents, but was allowed to begin this process, which would benefit the real estate industry district wide.
Again Musa Moore did not to correct this behavior of Michael Liburd. There was no insistence that support be gained from the ULURP committee and the community at large for CB9 to engage in a district wide rezoning, especially with a program that the community board had already voted down. Also in light of the fact that the MIH program is an upzoning law, Mr. Moore never corrected Mr. Liburd outright lie that this rezoning was a going to be a downzoning.
4. Withheld Vital Information Regarding Shelter from the Public.
Musa Moore again used his influence to support real estate, in regards to the Shelter that has open up at Crown Street and Rogers Ave. According to court records contained in the lawsuit against this shelter, CB9 was aware of the potential opening of the shelter in February 2017 and Musa Moore actually did a walking tour of the facility in March of 2017. However, this information was never given to the public until a newspaper article was written about it in April 2017. He purposely withheld this information to prevent the community from being aware of this issue. Thus acting in favor of the developers and the not the community.
Advised Developers to Come Back with an MIH Program.
Another heavily contested issue occurred in May 2017, where a proposal for a rezoning along the perimeter of the Botanic Garden under the MIH program was underway. During the hearing where the developers presented their project to the people, Musa Moore instructed that it wasn’t the right time for them to be requesting the rezoning change.
This advice was taken by the developers and they promised to come back, when there will be more support for the project. At this point in time, Cornnel Realty has not poured any cement down on their proposed lands thus supporting the statements of their intention to come back after the elections, when the Bedford Armory project is finished.
Allowed ULURP Chair to Promise Recommendations without Approval of Board
Another controversial issue regarding real estate in our community under the direction and control of Musa Moore is the Bedford Union Armory. During the final vote of this proposal on June 27, 2017, again Michael Liburd was allowed to state that the ULURP committee, was going to submit recommendations for the proposal after the Community Board voted a straight NO.
The time in which the ULURP committee was suppose to review the application Michael Librud never once suggested any recommendations and the ULURP committee never voted to have a “No with Conditions”. The ULURP committee voted a straight NO! Also Michael Librud was not authorized by the Board to provide any recommendations and yet the media has stated clearly that these recommendations will be coming from the Board while the ULURP process is in Borough President Eric Adams domain.
Musa Moore was made aware that this was illegal and it was done to allow Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo to be able to reverse her decision from a NO to a Yes, based upon some conditions that Michael Liburd will be presenting to the Borough President in violation of the OML and other laws governing CB9.
Again his failure to act in the best interest of the community and to curtail and stop Michael Liburd’s continued ploys and schemes to empower the real estate industry rezoning and applications to enable major projects to be done that the community are absolutely opposed to shows how he is using his position to further the aims of his employers. He is also giving opportunities for the very people that he lobbies, city council people, political advantage in very heavily and heated controversial real estate issues.
Refused to Hire District Manager or other Staff to ensure has full control over Office
Despite the direct order of the Court enabling CB9 to hire staff at the district Office and the advice that has been given by by Borough President legal staff to create a committee to do this hiring, Musa Moore has simply refused to set up a committee to hire a District Manager and additional staff. Because of this reluctance, over $100,000 has for the second year in a row been sent back to the city unused. This has allowed him to continue to maintain full control of what happens and transpires at the community board office. What information comes in and goes out. He also continues to use the excuse of not having enough staff as the basis for the continued violations of the law, such as FOIL and timely notices of meetings to the public.
With so many issues now on the table within CB9 regarding real estate, where the community is pitted against the real estate industry, Musa Moore should not be chairing this board. He knew exactly what he was doing when he took his job as a lobbyist at the very same time he was running and won the seat for chairman of the Board. He was aware of the heated fights within the community over real estate interest for the last three years that he has been a member. He used his position as Chairman to gain wealth for himself, and his acts or his inactions violates the City Charter, Open Meetings law, public ethics, and Conflict of Interest.
He should be admonished, fined and removed from the CB9 board immediately before any more damage may be done.
Sincerely,
MTOPP
Cc: Borough President Eric Adams
Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo
Councilman Eugene Mathieu