{"id":186203,"date":"2026-04-05T10:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186203\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T10:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:31:08","slug":"hochul-running-mate-adrienne-adams-funneled-435k-to-migrant-shelter-tied-to-federal-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186203\/","title":{"rendered":"Hochul running mate Adrienne Adams funneled $435K to migrant shelter tied to federal probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s running mate \u2013 former NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams \u2013 dished out $435,000 in taxpayer-funded political pork to a shady migrant-shelter provider at the center of a federal corruption probe,<\/a> The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

The Democratic lieutenant governor candidate gave Brooklyn-based nonprofit BHRAGS Home Care Inc. $375,000 in discretionary funds through her speaker\u2019s pot from 2022 to 2025, Council records show. The taxpayer\u2019s dough was earmarked for the group\u2019s senior and youth after-school programs.<\/p>\n

The Queens-based pol also directly tacked on another $60,000 to help it assist the mentally ill, the records show.<\/p>\n

In all, the Council under her leadership doled out $544,900 to BHRAGS since 2021, according to the records.<\/p>\n

Former NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams dished out $435,000 in taxpayer-funded political pork to a shady migrant-shelter provider at the center of a federal corruption probe, The Post has learned. Kathy Hochul\/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Farah Louis kicked in another $72,000, and other council members chipped in the remaining $37,900, records show.<\/p>\n

The feds are looking into whether Louis; her sister, Deborah Louis, who serves as Hochul\u2019s assistant secretary for NYC intergovernmental affairs; Edu Hermelyn, husband of state Assemblywoman and Brooklyn Democratic Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn; and others accepted bribes or kickbacks to boost BHRAGS.<\/p>\n

The Flatbush-based nonprofit has received $185.4 million in no-bid city contracts since 2022 to provide emergency shelters for migrants and other homeless people, according to NYC Comptroller\u2019s Office records.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The nonprofit\u2019s executive director, Roberto Samedy, its former board chairman, Jean Ronald Tirelus, and two others connected to BHRAGS were arrested Tuesday as part of the corruption probe for allegedly pocketing more than $1 million in kickbacks linked to city-run migrant shelters.<\/p>\n

BHRAGS reps have said<\/a> it\u2019s \u201cfully cooperating with law enforcement\u201d and that Samedy was placed on administrative leave.<\/p>\n

BHRAGS Home Care\u2019s offices at 2005 Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn\u2019s Flatbush section. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

Neither the Louis sisters nor Hermelyn has been charged with any wrongdoing, but Hochul placed Deborah Louis on leave after learning of the investigation. <\/p>\n

Adams has not been accused of wrongdoing, but her generosity with taxpayer money to the nonprofit should \u201craise a million red flags\u201d for the feds to investigate, said former Councilman Robert Holden, a conservative Queens Democrat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to go after Farrah Lewis, then you\u2019ve got to go after Adrienne Adams,\u201d said Holden, who referred to Adams as \u201cshady\u201d and the \u201cworst speaker in the history of New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say she has a lot more of these red flags than Farah would ever have, because she controlled a lot more money, and [her award-making decisions] were never about merit, it was about whether you align with her politically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie Louis (left) with Gov. Kathy Hochul. Facebook \/ Debbie Louis<\/p>\n

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman said Adams has serious questions to answer about her political pork \u2014 and called into question Hochul\u2019s judgment for picking the ex-speaker as a running mate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHochul\u2019s running mate has been exposed for funneling even more taxpayer money to the same company at the center of the scandal,\u201d said Blakeman of The Post\u2019s findings. \u201cIt\u2019s a corrupt cycle\u2014and New Yorkers deserve answers now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louis \u2014 who, along with her sister and\u00a0Hermelyn were named in search warrants signed March 19 \u2014 is no fan of Adams despite their desire to assist BHRAGS.<\/p>\n

She recently filed legal papers announcing her intent to file a $10 million lawsuit alleging Adams and some Council staffers discriminated against her because of her\u00a0Haitian heritage, Politico reported.<\/a> At least three other Council members are of Haitian descent but have never made such claims.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Farah (D-Brooklyn), who the feds are scrutinizing in the corruption investigation, awarded $72,000 from her Council pot of discretionary funds to BHRAGS. Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy Of Music<\/p>\n

Former Councilwoman Diana Ayala (D-Bronx), who served as deputy speaker under Adams, came to the defense of her longtime ally, insisting Adams led the Council \u201cwith honor and integrity \u2014 and any claim otherwise is simply false.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who\u2019s worked with Adrienne Adams knows that her leadership is beyond reproach \u2013 she would never approve designating funds to any organization that didn\u2019t pass the council\u2019s rigorous vetting process,\u201d Ayala said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time that the funding in question was approved, she and our legal team understood this organization to be providing quality services to New Yorkers after clearing that extensive process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hochul-Adams campaign told The Post Friday the ex-speaker has not been subpoenaed or contacted by federal investigators about the probe. <\/p>\n

Campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika also swiped back at Blakeman\u2019s remarks, claiming under his watch, \u201ccorruption became the name of the game in Nassau County, where literal donors he picked to oversee the county jail and Long Island\u2019s lifeline hospital almost ran both into the ground.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Brooklyn, which is overseeing the probe, declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s running mate \u2013 former NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams \u2013 dished out $435,000 in taxpayer-funded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[446,11827,1626,301,7022,49979,426,57,3411,9,56,63,65,64,87,21471,23699,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-186203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-adrienne-adams","9":"tag-brooklyn-federal-court","10":"tag-bruce-blakeman","11":"tag-city-council","12":"tag-corruption","13":"tag-discretionary-funds","14":"tag-kathy-hochul","15":"tag-metro","16":"tag-migrants","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-nyc-headlines","21":"tag-nyc-news","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-shelters","24":"tag-us-attorney","25":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}