Eric Ulrich case will go to trial in September, 3 years after indictment

Eric Ulrich, a former Republican New York City Council member and former commissioner in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, will face trial in September, three years after being indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges.

Ulrich was hit with five separate indictments back in September 2023, with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office alleging that he accepted or solicited more than $150,000 in bribes while holding government positions. Among the alleged gifts were a bespoke suit and season tickets to the New York Mets. Ulrich, who resigned as Adams’ Department of Buildings commissioner in November 2022 amid reports of a corruption probe, pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

In a Tuesday morning hearing, Judge Daniel Conviser set the trial date for Sept. 28, 2026 for the indictment in which Ulrich is accused of using his position to benefit business owners and co-defendants Joseph Livreri, Anthony Livreri and Michael Mazzio. Prosecutors allege that Ulrich helped to expedite building and health inspections for his co-defendants’ various businesses, and find a higher paying city job for Mazzio’s daughter. They document a trail of direct payments to Ulrich amounting to more than $3,000, as well as Mets season tickets worth thousands of dollars. The events described in that indictment stretch from January 2021 to September 2022, a period in which Ulrich served as a Council member, then senior adviser to Adams, and finally his buildings commissioner.

Another of the five indictments, which named real estate developer Mark Caller as a co-defendant, was dismissed this January, finding that prosecutors didn’t present the “full story” to the grand jury and lacked evidence that Caller tried to bribe Ulrich in the time they described. 

The remaining indictments have not yet had trial dates scheduled. Bragg’s office asked to go to trial on this one first because it is expected to take longer – around four to five weeks, according to Bragg’s office.

Ulrich directed City & State to his attorney, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday morning.

While some of Ulrich’s alleged criminal conduct predated his time in the Adams administration, the charges were among the earliest to be tied to the now former mayor. Adams himself is not named as a defendant in any of the Ulrich indictments, but he is described as meeting with Ulrich, the Livreris and Mazzio as mayor-elect. 

Adams himself was later indicted on separate, unrelated criminal charges. Though those charges were dropped, the allegations of corruption in multiple branches of his administration and among his inner circle have come to be seen as inextricably tied to his legacy.