Mayor Adams' donor, Alexander Rovt, seals controversial lease deal for city agency in Lower Manhattan

After a contentious road of negotiations, the Department for the Aging has officially sealed a deal to relocate to 14 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services has signed a 20-year lease for 81,000 square feet at Alexander Rovt's property, according to a report by Crain's.

The deal, worth a whopping $77 million, is for a property owned by Rovt, a major donor to Mayor Eric Adams' campaigns and legal fund. And while the process has been met with controversy, the terms of the lease are even more questionable.

For the first five years, the city will be paying Rovt a rate of $33 per square foot. However, every five years, that rate will escalate, eventually capping at a staggering $44 per square foot. The city will be locked into this escalating payment structure for the next 20 years, with no indication of how much it will ultimately cost taxpayers.

It's a clear win for Rovt, who has been a major supporter of Adams and now stands to profit greatly from this deal. And the timing is certainly interesting, as Adams' campaign has faced scrutiny for its ties to developers and real estate interests.

This controversial lease deal raises serious questions about the influence of money and connections in New York City's real estate industry. And it's just another example of the blurred lines between politics and business in the city.