Lawsuit unearths details on New York City’s enigmatic investigation squad

NEW YORK — Last year, an abrupt leadership change that was kept under wraps appeared to signal trouble inside a mysterious division in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. Allegations contained in a lawsuit filed Thursday offer some clarity.

In a 55-page complaint filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, a former NYPD sergeant accused Timothy Pearson — a high-powered but inscrutable aide to Adams — of inappropriately touching her and holding up a promotion on the condition she become his personal driver.

Amid the accusations of impropriety are details that, if substantiated, offer clues concerning the Mayor’s Office of Municipal Services Assessment — a squad of NYPD and other staffers who act as governmental private eyes monitoring city agencies.

The relatively new and shadowy division operates out of a city office in Queens and reports directly to Pearson.

It was officially created in January 2023 via executive order — though never announced by the mayor — as first reported by POLITICO. Thursday’s suit suggests the outfit had actually been operating for up to six months before that under the command of an NYPD captain and deputy inspector named Miltiadis Marmara, who was on loan from the police force.

Marmara initially reported to Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, another close Adams confidante, though the complaint notes the reins were handed over to Pearson, a retired NYPD inspector, in October 2022. (Pearson’s leading role has been reported by POLITICO but never acknowledged by City Hall.)

That’s when the problems allegedly began.

According to the complaint, which was first reported by the Daily News, Marmara sought to report Pearson’s alleged inappropriate conduct to internal NYPD investigators over the objections of the accuser, who feared it would derail her career in the department. While he did not ultimately make a report, Marmara allegedly got into at least two heated arguments with Pearson — one of which was mediated by Banks and involved a subsequent phone call with NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, who is named as a defendant in the suit. The blowups culminated in Marmara’s request to leave the office last April, according to the suit — a move that was reported by POLITICO.

At the time, City Hall declined multiple requests to explain why Marmara was transferred back to the NYPD and who was leading the division in his stead. On Thursday, a mayoral spokesperson declined to provide the office's staff list, reveal the size of its budget or offer any metrics that track the division’s success.

According to court documents, Pearson subsequently threatened the careers of a group of remaining staffers to dissuade them from requesting transfers out of the office.

The operations of the unit and its leadership are nebulous to even other high-ranking members of the administration and city lawmakers. To wit: On March 1, Council Member Lincoln Restler chaired a hearing examining the results of a biannual report charting the direction of government services. While leaders from the municipal assessment office were invited by the Brooklyn lawmaker to testify, he said, they declined to appear.

An organizational chart from December reviewed by POLITICO showed 15 employees who were on loan from other city agencies including the police and education departments. Its executive director was listed as Brian Bohannon Jr., who city payroll data pegs as a captain and inspector in the NYPD making $195,575.

Pearson has been the subject of several controversies since joining the administration.

Internal documents obtained by POLITICO via the Freedom of Information Law show he was granted permission by the Economic Development Corporation — the quasi-governmental body that technically employs him — to collect outside income from Resorts World New York City casino as a security consultant in addition to his city salary of $242,600 as senior adviser for public safety and Covid-19 recovery.

A report in The New York Times detailing the relationship spurred Pearson to step down from his side gig in August 2022, but not before he pulled in a six-figure sum that year: A financial disclosure filed with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board shows he made between $250,000 and $500,000 in 2022 from his Resorts World salary, bonus and overtime.

In October, Pearson was again in the headlines after getting into a scuffle with security staff at a migrant facility who had asked for his identification before allowing him to enter the premises.

While the Manhattan District Attorney initially charged two guards in connection with the melee, the cases were later dropped. A dozen eyewitnesses identified Pearson as the instigator, while some of the witnesses said he threatened their jobs for denying him entry. The Department of Investigation is probing the matter.

And as POLITICO recently reported, Pearson held up the opening of a migrant facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn last fall as he tried unsuccessfully to steer a security contract to Bo Dietl, a longtime friend and donor to the mayor.

In the wake of the Thursday’s lawsuit — which follows a separate allegation of sexual assault against the mayor himself from earlier int he week — City Hall released a statement defending Pearson and his work in the administration.

“As an officer, and in the years since he left the force, Tim has shown himself to be a knowledgeable and experienced public servant who has worked to make this city and its people safer,” spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said in a statement. “We will review the lawsuit, but the allegations were referred to City Hall’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity which conducted outreach on multiple occasions to the individual making these claims. The individual chose not to cooperate in any investigation and, thus, none of her claims could be substantiated.”