Two days after it was revealed that he is under criminal investigation for unlawful gambling, Eric Ulrich announced his resignation as Mayor Adams’ Department of Buildings commissioner on Thursday.
To avoid being a “distracting” component for the Adams administration, Ulrich, a former City Council member, submitted his resignation, the mayor told reporters at a separate press conference in Queens.
Adams added, “I appreciate that decision, and we wish him well as he goes through this evaluation for his family and the Commissioner.”
According to Adams spokeswoman Fabien Levy, the acting commissioner will be Ulrich’s assistant Kazimir Vilenchik.
“We have complete faith in the DOB team, and the organization is fully operational. No city services will be affected, according to Levy.
Since the mayor took office in January, Ulrich’s resignation is the first by a commissioner nominated by Adams.
Ulrich was promoted to the $240,000-per-year commissioner position in May after beginning the administration as a senior assistant to Adams at City Hall.
Ulrich’s abrupt resignation follows news that he is a target of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal investigation.
According to people familiar with the situation, Bragg’s office detectives presented Ulrich with a search warrant outside his Queens home on Tuesday morning, interrogated him for hours, and took his smartphone as part of a criminal investigation.
The investigation’s specifics are yet unknown, but insiders have verified that it centers on illegal gaming.
A Bragg spokesperson declined to comment on Thursday. Ulrich was unreachable.
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