Former Bronx Borough President and current director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs Adolfo Carrion Jr. has been flirting with the idea of coming back to New York. The Daily News and City Hall News both report that he's been thinking about running for Lieutenant Governor; in fact, the News says Carrion "is bored working for the Obama administration," but "Here's the catch: Carrión wants to be asked to run, sources said, not the other way around. So far, there has been no response from the Cuomo camp." more ›

The NYPD and Department of Investigation raided the downtown offices of a developer who, the Daily News reports, "funneled thousands in campaign cash to local politicians, including White House aide Adolfo Carrión." A van full of boxes of files was taken from the Atlantic Development Group and the Post says "investigators were looking into such alleged bribery tactics as using expediters to pay off city officials to move projects along, or bribing construction companies to use nonunion, cheaper labor." ADG is behind the "ambitious" Boricua Village development in the Bronx; the project came under the spotlight when the Daily News drew attention to the fact that the project's architect did design work for former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion—but Carrion never paid him. more ›

Yesterday, Daily News noted that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.—now the White House's director of urban policy—approved a big city project designed by an architect who had just finished a renovation project on Carrion's own home back in 2007. After initially not telling the News how much he paid for the project or responding to the paper's request for cancelled checks, now the News gets a response: "Carrion admitted he hadn't paid architect Hugo Subotovsky to design a porch and balcony for his City Island home." Carrion adds that the final bill will end up being $3,627.50 for Subotovsky's 51.5 hours of work (just $71/hour) and claimed no bill was paid because he's waiting for the "final survey" to be "filed and approved...as is [the architect's] practice for projects of this kind." Hmm, that's interesting—one would think an architect would get on that immediately to, you know, get paid. more ›

The Daily News has been investigating former Bronx Borough President and new director of White House urban policy Adolfo Carrion Jr.'s dealings with developers lately. Today, the News wonders whether there's a connection between the renovation work architect Hugo Subotovsky did on Carrion's City Island home and Carrion's approval of a huge taxpayer-subsidized development—designed by Subotovsky— in the Bronx. At the time of his home renovation (basically installing a balcony onto the second floor), the News reports, "Carrión had at least $15,000 in credit card debt, was paying off two mortgages worth more than $500,000 and had $5,000 in revolving credit from Chase bank." Carrion hasn't revealed how much the renovation cost and declined to show the News copies of the checks used to pay for the work, leading the News to remind us, if it was an unreported gift, it "could be seen as Carrión using his position to benefit himself financially, a violation of the law. It could also be unreported income." more ›

After months of speculation, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. will be leaving NYC for DC to take a position as the director of the White House Office on Urban Policy in the Obama administration. NY1 reports that the announcement will be made today: "The race to succeed Carrion will be decided in a special election in April." And Politicker NY forecasts, "The expected candidates are Assemblyman Ruben Diaz. Jr., who supported the new Democratic County Leader in a coup last year, and City Councilman Joel Rivera, whose father was ousted in that coup. (Other names talked about include City Council woman Helen Diane Foster.)" more ›

The Posts reports that Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. will be named to the White House Office of Urban Policy as the director of urban affairs. Rumored to be headed to the Obama White House in some way, Carrion was frequently mentioned as a possible HUD secretary, but NYC Housing Commission Shaun Donovan got the job. Politico's Ben Smith writes, "Carrion is a well-liked, pro-development official who has tried to enhance his limited power through an alliance with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and gives the New York mayor...another ally in the White House, and suggests a New York-centric urban policy... The appointment could also position Carrion for a run for mayor, an office he has coveted, in 2013, should Bloomberg win another term next year." This also makes the race for NYC Comptroller in 2009 interesting. more ›