Eric Ulrich, the former buildings commissioner who ran the Department of Buildings under Mayor Eric Adams, goes to trial this week on bribery and campaign finance charges, according to Manhattan court filings first reported by Gothamist.
Ulrich was arrested in September 2023 and charged in a scheme prosecutors say involved bribes from businessmen seeking city favors, including from people with interests before DOB. He has pleaded not guilty. The case was brought by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
For contractors, the case matters less for Ulrich himself than for what it put under a microscope: how DOB's top office handled access and favors from people doing business with the agency during his tenure. DOB has cycled through several commissioners since Ulrich's departure, and the agency's enforcement posture — inspections, stop-work orders, violation sign-offs — is the backdrop against which every GC in this city plans a schedule.
The trial is expected to surface testimony about how requests moved through the commissioner's office, which is the kind of detail that shapes how agencies write their own internal controls afterward. DOB has not commented on the pending trial. Ulrich's attorney has maintained his client's innocence in prior court appearances.
Gothamist first reported the trial date; court records for the case are maintained by the New York State Unified Court System's e-filing system for Manhattan Supreme Court.
## What to do next
Nothing here changes a bid due date or a permit requirement today. But if you've got open DOB matters — a stalled sign-off, an inspection request sitting on someone's desk — this is a reminder that the agency's own oversight is under a public spotlight right now, which historically means more paperwork rigor and less informal flexibility from DOB staff, not less. Build extra lead time into anything that depends on a discretionary DOB sign-off through the trial's run.