Top Eric Adams appointee did business with Trump and a Russian oligarch who was sanctioned by the U.S.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has appointed to a top city job a veteran real estate executive with ties to influential businesses and officials who have come under legal scrutiny, including the Trump Organization and Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government.

Edward Mermelstein, whom Adams named earlier this month to be commissioner of New York’s international affairs office, also is linked to public relations executive Ronn Torossian, an Adams ally who has worked for several high-profile figures over the years and has gained a reputation for being a confrontational firebrand. Torossian’s clients have included the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been criticized for anti-democratic power grabs.

Details of these connections had yet to be reported since Mermelstein was appointed earlier this month to be commissioner of international affairs, who acts as the primary liaison between the city government, foreign leaders and the United Nations. Marjorie Bloomberg Tiven, who held the position while her brother Michael Bloomberg was mayor, once said the job is meant to ensure “your head of government is behaving in a way that doesn’t offend other heads of government.”

Mermelstein is a Russian-American foreign investment attorney who has given “expert help navigating the complex foreign investment process in the United States,” according to his still-active personal website. The mayor’s office website says he came to the United States in the 1970s as a refugee from Ukraine.

In an interview with CNBC, Mermelstein, who donated just over $5,000 to Adams’ political operation after the November election, did not discuss the details of his previous clients, or how he got the position. He did say, however, that he intends to lure business to the city.

“As you are aware, lots of companies have left New York over the last couple of years and I’m looking to bring as many back, especially, my focus is international,” he said. Forbes has reported that since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, financial firms on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have relocated thousands of jobs out of New York.

Since joining Adams’ administration just over two weeks ago, Mermelstein said he’s met leaders from Belgium, France, Italy, India, Israel, Qatar and Australia. He said he has not been in touch with any business executives and has focused his time on diplomatic circles.

Mermelstein did not provide many details on the process of completing any type of financial disclosure. Yet he noted that the application he filled out was “about two and a half inches thick” and required him to disclose “anything and everything.”

If the Adams administration deems that Mermelstein’s role is full time and has “substantial policy discretion,” the real estate executive would have to file a financial disclosure form, and he would be restricted from political fundraising or accepting gifts from those deemed as special interests, according to John Kaehny, executive director of watchdog Reinvent Albany.

Mermelstein was a founder and CEO of real estate firm One Only Realty, as well as a founder and CEO of One Only Holdings, “a company that caters to the needs of high-net-worth individuals,” his website says. The site boasts of One Only Holdings’ “international strategic alliances.”

In February, the mayor’s office “sends a list to the Conflict of Interest Board naming all of the people and positions with substantial policymaking authority,” Kaehny said. “We’ll see if this person or position are listed.”

A spokesman for Adams’ office pointed to Mermelstein’s previous work leading ZAKA International, a nonprofit that’s been recognized by the United Nations and, according to their website is “Israel’s dominant non-governmental rescue and recovery organization.”

“As the mayor has repeatedly said, he is picking the best people for the right jobs, and Ed is the right person. New York City is the center of the universe and we need an international affairs commissioner with extensive global experience, including leadership of a UN-recognized international search and rescue organization,” the spokesman said. “Ed has already proven himself to be a dedicated and talented public servant, and his work at the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs will advance our mission of cross-cultural collaboration between our city and municipalities around the world.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/21/ny-mayor-eric-adams-appoints-exec-linked-to-trump-organization-russian-oligarch.html