:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62642081/1-00420-0047.gnMdxiJd.0.jpg)
The Rivington House saga is getting murkier, just days after the De Blasio administration said it was misled over the sale of the Lower East Side nursing home. The administration maintains that it removed the deed restrictions on the property not knowing that the owner, for-profit care provider Allure Group, intended to sell it to group of developers to turn it into condos.
Now, another Wall Street Journal investigation has revealed that something similar may have happened in Brooklyn. In June of 2015, a Bed-Stuy nursing home was purchased by an LLC, but the property is now listed as owned by Allure. Just months after the purchase, the city approved the demolition of the building to make way for a six-story residential building with 241 apartments, according to WSJ. A representative for the mayor's office told the publication that it was unaware of any wrongdoing.
Furthermore, de Blasio has maintained that he was unaware of the deed restrictions being lifted on Rivington House until this month, though a letter concerning the matter was sent to the mayor by Community Board 3 in January. A spokesperson for the mayor told WSJ that he hadn't seen the letter.
Now City Councilwoman Margaret Chin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer have also written to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to get a hold of the documents relating to the sale, according to Crain's. The deal is currently under investigation by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer's office, which obtained the documents through a subpoena.