{"id":265834,"date":"2026-06-13T21:03:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T21:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/265834\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T21:03:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T21:03:47","slug":"nyc-councilwoman-failed-to-disclose-free-rent-on-luxe-queens-pad-records-show-raises-conflict-of-interest-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/265834\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Councilwoman failed to disclose free rent on luxe Queens pad, records show: ‘Raises conflict of interest concerns’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An NYC councilwoman running for Congress could be skirting city conflict-of-interest laws by failing to disclose that a political consultant provided her a free, long-term apartment<\/a> at a swanky Queens condo complex, government watchdogs told The Post.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Julie Won (D-Queens), her political strategist husband Eugene Noh and their two children moved into the one-bedroom condo at Skyline Towers on Long Island City\u2019s waterfront in November 2024, according to a copy of their lease agreement shared by the unit\u2019s owner,\u00a0Justin Chae.<\/p>\n

The Democratic consultant said he agreed to waive the $5,000-a-month rent on the luxe apartment over the one-year-lease as a bonus to Noh, who agreed to work as vice president of campaigns at Chae\u2019s company, Legion Outreach Consultants.<\/p>\n

City Councilwoman Julie Won didn\u2019t disclose free rent on city disclosure forms \u2014 a possible conflict of interest issue, critics said. Gabriella Bass<\/p>\n

However, Won failed to list the perk on her 2024 annual disclosure forms filed with the city\u2019s Conflicts of Interest Board.<\/p>\n

The form asks candidates if they received \u201cany gift or gifts valued at $1,000\u2033 or more, a review of the filings showed.<\/p>\n

If Won and her husband had to pay rent, her share for the last two months of 2024 would have been $5,000.<\/p>\n

The COIB has yet to publicly release its 2025 filings, so it\u2019s unclear if Won neglected to report the free lodging for that year as well.<\/p>\n

Although Chae doesn\u2019t do business with the city, critics say Won should\u2019ve disclosed the freebie anyway \u2013 even if it came through a previous arrangement Chae had with her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cReceiving free housing from someone with political interests that could interact with your official duties is the kind of arrangement [that] raises conflict of interest concerns,\u201d said Ben Weinberg, director of public policy at Citizens Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cElected officials in that situation should get formal guidance from COIB and disclose it as a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Won has claimed her ex-landlord Justin Chae forged her name on a bogus lease agreement.\u00a0 instagram \/ @julieJ_won<\/p>\n

Rachael Fauss, senior policy advisor at Reinvent Albany, also said she believes Won should have disclosed the perk. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could potentially be seen as a gift, so it belongs on the forms somewhere,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Carolyn Miller, COIB\u2019s executive director, said she can\u2019t \u201cprovide a definitive answer\u201d on whether Won broke any rules without speaking to the councilwoman and getting \u201call the relevant facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReceiving something of value could be considered a gift under the annual disclosure law, and it also could be compensation in connection with one\u2019s employment,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cAlso, for a married couple, there is often a question about who received the thing of value for reporting purposes, the filer or their spouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Won and her family vacated the condo June 1, three days after being slapped with eviction papers by Chae, a top NYC political consultant and former family friend, The Post previously reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

Skyline Towers in Queens. Helayne Seidman for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Chae dropped the eviction case June 8 because the couple left his $1 million condo, court filings show. But he told The Post he\u00a0plans to sue them to recoup $25,000 in rent he alleges they owe for the first five months of this year. Noh\u2019s employment with Chae\u2019s company was terminated in June of last year, Chae said.<\/p>\n

Won, who is running in a crowded field in the June 23 Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez in New York\u2019s 7th Congressional District (covering parts of Queens and Brooklyn), has insisted she and her husband never signed any lease on the luxury pad, claiming Chae forged her name on a bogus lease agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The couple has refused to address allegations that they never paid rent and declined to say if they claimed the free rent on their tax filings.<\/p>\n

Fair-market value of employer-provided housing is generally considered a taxable fringe benefit that must be reported as income, and those receiving the perk typically are required to pay both federal and state taxes on it.<\/p>\n

Won has threatened to sue Chae over going public with their landlord-tenant dispute, saying it\u2019s a \u201cclearly political smear job.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An NYC councilwoman running for Congress could be skirting city conflict-of-interest laws by failing to disclose that a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[301,2499,86064,858,16394,15438,24225,3100,57,9,24,63,8004,87,122,124,123,2780,58],"class_list":["post-265834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-city-council","tag-condos","tag-conflicts-of-interest-board","tag-congress","tag-consultants","tag-eviction","tag-landlord-tenant-disputes","tag-lawsuit","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nydia-velazquez","tag-politics","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-taxes","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265834","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=265834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}