Adams’ Allies Push Trump Ambassadorship — And A New York City Casino Bid Tied To His Veto

NEW YORK — The major players behind an ill-fated deal to make Mayor Eric Adams the Trump administration’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia have financial ties to a developer trying to win approval for a New York City casino.

Billionaire developer Steve Witkoff, who serves as President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, is a consultant for the bidder, the Bally’s Corporation, according to his financial disclosures. Witkoff floated the Saudi diplomatic post to Adams’ team earlier this month. Frank Carone — a close Adams adviser, his reelection campaign chair and former City Hall chief of staff — also took part in discussions about the role.

Bally’s hired Carone, who runs the lobbying firm Oaktree Solutions, in early 2023, the TV station NY1 reported last year. The mailing address listed on his firm’s website is the same as one that appears for Bally’s on its SEC filings.

The company is competing for one of three New York City casino licenses and hoping to turn the site of a city-owned Bronx golf course formerly managed by the Trump Organization into a casino. In 2023, the Trump Organization sold the remainder of its lease to manage the site to Bally’s. Under the terms of that purchase agreement, if Bally’s converts the site into a casino, it must pay the Trump Organization $115 million. Carone stands to benefit as well, given that his client has a shot at running one of the world’s most lucrative casinos.

Prior to the talks that involved Witkoff and Carone about the Saudi post, Adams saved Bally’s proposal by vetoing a City Council decision that would have eliminated it from the licensing competition. His veto was a rare move. New York City mayors don’t typically overrule the legislative body, especially on a local land use issue. Adams’ office maintains his action was consistent with how the mayor has handled the casino proposals by wanting as many projects to move forward as possible. City Hall officials insisted the move was supported by Bronx officials. At the time, the mayor’s office said the veto was issued to avoid “putting its finger on the scale” by allowing one casino bid to be shot down while other projects moved forward. This month, Adams’ appointees opposed the decision by local officials to reject three Manhattan casino bids that are competitors to the Bally’s project.

The casino competition is playing out against the backdrop of New York City’s high-stakes mayoral race — a contest whose outcome is poised to reshape American politics. Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is leading by a comfortable margin in most polls, and his front-runner status has prompted his rivals — among them Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo, both fellow Democrats — to call for each other to drop out in an effort to coalesce behind a single moderate candidate.

Trump has inserted himself into the election drama as well, publicly insisting that mayoral candidates opposed to Mamdani consolidate the field. To that end, the Trump administration and Adams’ team were working to award the mayor the ambassadorship or another administration post to get him out of the race, but he’s so far refused to step aside.

The overlapping interests between the mayor’s official actions, efforts to remove him from the race and those with a stake in Bally’s have alarmed government watchdogs, who fear there’s a lack of robust deterrence by federal law enforcement.

“New York’s on its own, and what happened when Trump got elected was the federal anti-corruption sheriff rode off into the sunset — that would be the independent Southern District,” said John Kaehny, executive director of the government watchdog Reinvent Albany, referring to the storied Manhattan federal prosecutors' office. “What’s left in its wake is this lawlessness. What we’re seeing here is a clear example of what that looks like.” 

Adams campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro in a statement said that highlighting the connections is “an attempt to spin conspiracy theories where none exist.”

“Mayor Adams does not mix his responsibilities as mayor with private business interests — period. Any claims tying him to casino proposals are simply false,” he added. “The Mayor has allowed all proposals to go the natural course. We have made it clear we want a casino in New York and our independent member on the community supported all of the projects that have been put forth.”

The mayor’s office in a statement said Adams has tried to give “New Yorkers the best possible odds to benefit from a casino in their borough.”

“POLITICO can make all the inaccurate insinuations it wants, but the fact remains: Since the start of this administration, Mayor Adams has been clear and consistent that he does not have a preference on where a casino is built in New York City, just that he supports at least one being built in the five boroughs,” said spokesperson William Fowler.

He added: “To suggest otherwise is either ignorant or deliberately misleading.”

Carone declined to comment for this article. Bally’s did not respond.

Mamdani has repeatedly sought to capitalize on Adams’ potential role in the Trump administration. He held an “emergency press conference” earlier this month to decry how the president’s “backroom deals” and “corrupt agreements” with Adams were attempting to “subvert the will of the people” by clearing the way for a one-on-one challenge between himself and Cuomo. Following reports of the Saudi discussion, the potential deal stalled, a clear benefit to Mamdani.

Days after the closed-door job talks became public, Adams insisted at a fiery Sept. 5 news conference that he would remain in the race and had not been offered a job in the Trump administration. The president, reacting the same day to Adams’ decision to stay put, told reporters he expects Mamdani will win.  

When POLITICO asked Witkoff if his firm, the Witkoff Group, is involved in the construction of the proposed Bally’s casino, Witkoff responded by text: “We are not a consultant and we are not involved in the construction of the project.”

But Witkoff lists himself as a consultant for Bally’s in a disclosure form signed on Aug. 13 and made public Sept. 13. Witkoff did not respond to questions about what work was performed for Bally’s and if it is being done in a personal capacity.

A Witkoff spokesperson said that “the only limited role The Witkoff Group had with Bally’s was as a real estate advisor on Bally’s acquisition of the parcel, which happened way back in 2022 and 2023.”

“There is no ongoing or continuing role for either The Witkoff Group or Steve Witkoff on this project,” said the spokesperson, who did not say whether the firm or Witkoff himself would derive any benefit from the casino proposal moving forward.

In March, Witkoff told Bloomberg he was in the process of cutting ties with his company. His recent financial disclosure form shows he sold his $120 million stake in the Witkoff Group.

The Witkoff Group has deep ties with companies that work closely with Bally’s. Witkoff has partnered with the private equity firm Apollo Global Management to finance multiple real estate projects in New York City and Florida. Apollo provided Bally's the funding to complete its merger with another gaming company, The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc., in February.

An Apollo spokesperson said in a statement that, “we are in no way involved in the bid for the casino in the Bronx.”

“We have been a lender to Witkoff on three projects in the last 15 years representing less than 1% of our real estate lending activity,” the spokesperson added.

Witkoff also enjoys “a long relationship” with Suffolk Construction. The company is listed in Bally’s heavily redacted application for a gaming license application. (The application portion listing Suffolk is almost entirely redacted, but “Suffolk” appears in the "construction timeline" application document in both the file’s title and title page.)

Many of the firms working on the project are also blocked out in the redacted casino application. Suffolk Construction declined to comment.

Beyond Carone, Adams’ campaign attorney Vito Pitta is one of Bally’s top lobbyists in Albany. Pitta’s law firm also lists Witkoff’s firm as a client on its website. Bronx lobbyist Stanley Schlein was also recently hired by Adams to review the signatures on petitions gathered as part of Adams’ reelection campaign. Schlein is also a top lobbyist for Bally’s.

Pitta declined to comment. Schlein did not respond.

Political strategists Neal Kwatra and Jason Ortiz also collectively have ties to Witkoff, Adams and Bally’s. Kwatra represents both Bally’s and the Witkoff Group, according to a report in City & State. Ortiz represents Bally’s as a lobbyist in Albany and City Hall through Moonshot Strategies, and he boosted Adams’ 2021 campaign. Ortiz’s firm also represents Apollo.

Peter Ward, the former head of the city’s powerful hotel workers union, is a lobbyist for Bally’s as well. Ward served on the board of Ocean Drive Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company founded and run by Witkoff. Kwatra and Ortiz previously served as political directors for the hotel workers union.

Ortiz and Kwatra also stand to have their respective businesses affected by a likely change in mayoral administration if Mamdani becomes mayor. Adams leaving the race early would help Cuomo and complicate Mamdani’s path to victory.

The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. Ortiz and Kwatra declined to comment. Ward did not respond.

Sally Goldenberg contributed to this report.