Frank Carone, Mayor Adams’ ex-chief of staff, rescinded his lobbying registration earlier this month — a move that coincided with his consulting firm revealing in filings that its other employees have lobbied officials in the administrations of both Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul.
Carone along with 11 employees of his firm, Oaktree Solutions, registered last month to lobby state and city officials on behalf of various private interests in sectors that include real estate, entertainment and health care, a move first reported by the Daily News.
Unlike the other employees, Carone only registered to lobby on the state level, saying he wouldn’t target officials in the Adams administration following concerns over the ethics of such activity given he used to be the mayor’s chief of staff and is expected to lead his reelection campaign.
But in amended filings dated March 11, Oaktree removed Carone’s name from the list of employees lobbying on behalf of the firm’s 18 clients.
Asked why his name was scrubbed, Carone said Thursday he only registered to undergo lobbying training.
“I only registered to enroll in training and compliance, but I have no interests in lobbying,” he said, calling it “compliance best practices” to register solely for training purposes.
Last month, Carone said he was registering because while he had no immediate plans to lobby he didn’t want to “foreclose the possibility.” By scrapping his registration altogether, Carone is now not legally allowed to personally lobby any government officials.
In addition to removing Carone’s name, the new Oaktree filings reveal targets of the lobbying its other employees are doing.
The filings show other Oaktree employees, including Carone’s brother, Anthony Carone, and ex-Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins, have lobbied Guillermo Patino, a deputy commissioner of policy at the city Buildings Department. The purpose of the lobbying is to secure an unspecified building permit for Public Records, a Brooklyn nightclub that has hired Oaktree, the records show.
The same group of Oaktree employees have lobbied Hochul’s office as well as a broad range of city and state lawmakers on behalf of BRIC Arts Media, a Brooklyn-based arts firm. The lobbying has mostly focused on city and state funding requests, the records show.
Oaktree’s other clients include real estate powerhouse Slate Property Group, whose chief executive hosted a fundraiser for Adams’ 2021 campaign. Oaktree’s lobbying for Slate is focused on “real estate development issues,” but the firm hasn’t disclosed any specific targets yet.
