NYC to stick with no-bid, $432M migrant contract, nixing comptroller's concerns

Mayor Eric Adams said the city will continue with the award of a $432 million, no-bid contract to house and care for migrants across the state despite concerns raised by the city comptroller that the chosen company is ill-suited for the work.

“We're going to move forward with it,” Adams said of the contract awarded to DocGo, a medical services provider, during an unrelated press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “We can't change the rules in the middle of the game.”

In a letter returning the contract to the city department of Housing Preservation and Development, Comptroller Brad Lander said the agency provided “little evidence” to show that DocGo had sufficient experience or know-how to perform the contract.

“It is a medical services company, not a logistics company, social services provider or legal service provider,” Lander wrote. “Numerous reports of staff mistreating or misleading asylum-seekers, failing to properly respond to reported assault incidents, and inadequate service provision further exacerbate these concerns.”

Adams dismissed Lander's concerns. DocGo is already performing services under the agreement, including setting up migrant shelters in upstate hotels.

“I think the comptroller probably saw an opportunity to just get in the conversation,” Adams said.

Abigail Rush, a DocGo spokesperson, released a statement from the company on Thursday defending the company's work and disputing Lander's claims.

“DocGo, one of the nation's largest logistics companies in the mobile healthcare space, has been successfully providing critical services to asylum seekers ... for more than four months," the statement said. "We have thousands of asylum seekers currently in our care who rely on funding from the City for this program to receive case management, social work, food and housing. DocGo’s quick action to step up in the face of this crisis has been critical in helping the City meet the needs of the asylum seekers in our care."
Since 2015, according to the statement, DocGo has delivered services in over 7.5 million patient interactions. It has provided "social work services for underserved populations here in NYC for over two years, and have been working with NYC to provide services for asylees since this crisis began a year ago. We will continue to work with our partners at NYC to ensure that asylum seekers continue to receive these vital services.”

Last year, the comptroller granted the city the emergency authority to fast track contracts to house and care for the newly arrived migrants, thereby bypassing the normal approval process. City Hall said the comptroller’s further approval of the DocGo contract isn’t necessary, citing city charter rules on emergency procurement.

Lander also said HPD didn’t provide enough details to justify the price tag. He urged the city agency to reconsider hiring DocGo, but acknowledged in an interview that Adams could choose to “force the contract forward despite and over our concerns.”

"What I sincerely hope they do is answer the very reasonable questions and concerns," Lander later added.

HPD touted its own track record and DocGo's in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, beginning with "let's set the record straight."

The agency and company have "moved quickly" to care for the migrants, at times establishing emergency shelters with under 12 hours notice, the initial post said.

"The majority of the funds in the HPD contract with DocGo goes directly to local, community organizations to provide housing, meals, security and other needed services," the agency continued in a follow-up post.

Notwithstanding Lander's concerns, DocGo said in the statement, "we have received assurance from the mayor's office that NYC intends to fully pay DocGo for the services delivered under this contract, both historically and going forward."

New York Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation into allegations about DocGo deceiving and threatening migrants, following a New York Times report. A New York Department of State investigation found over 50 security guards hired by DocGo’s subcontractors lacked proper authorization.

Bahar Ostadan contributed reporting.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from DocGo.