Facing Lawsuit Over Unsigned Shelter Contracts, John Liu Says He Won't Let Mayor "Bully" Him

John Liu: (No) bully for you, Mayor Bloomberg.

Our Jordan Melendrez reports and photographs:

"I would hope that there is nothing personal in the work that we all have to do for the people of New York City," the controller said Tuesday morning of Bloomberg's lawsuit over Liu's rejection of contracts for two homeless shelters.

"I would hope that there are no politics being played in this lawsuit that he has filed," Liu said. "I'm never going to back down just because the mayor tries to be a bully."

Bloomberg and the Department of Homeless Services have accused Liu of doing exactly that -- playing politics -- by refusing to sign off on the shelter contracts with Aguila Inc. His failure to do so, DHS Commissioner Michele Ovesey said this week, is "reckless and irresponsible."

Liu, one of a slew of candidates vying to succeed Bloomberg, addressed the contracts at a press conference called on a different topic: A $127 million subsidy to entice grocery-delivery service FreshDirect to operate in the South Bronx instead of heading to New Jersey.

The project has angered a contingent of local residents who say they were largely left out of the process.

"The salt in the wound [is] that they would go ahead and put this in the South Bronx without any opportunity for the community to have any kind of meaningful input," said Liu, who today cast the sole no vote on the Industrial Development Agency grant.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said in a statement that the vote "represented another step forward not only for the FreshDirect project, but the continued expansion of positive economic development in the Bronx."

But Liu said his office's audits show such funds could be more wisely spent.
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"What they are doing is giving huge amounts of taxpayers' money to private companies," he said. "We found that a vast majority of these subsidies wound up creating no jobs."

We've reached out to City Hall for comment...

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/blogs/dailypolitics/~3/ZhUtnaUncTg/story01.htm

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