The Turkish House — the building at the core of Mayor Adams’ indictment — has been operating for months without a required certificate of occupancy from the city, an investigation from the city comptroller’s office revealed Wednesday.
Comptroller Brad Lander, who is challenging Adams in the 2025 mayoral race, issued the report over the Midtown consulate, which has come under scrutiny from federal investigators in their case against the mayor as it was allegedly fast-tracked to open ahead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Turkish president.
According to the indictment, Adams pressured fire department officials to cut corners in their approval process to get the 35-story building up and running, allowing the building to open in September 2021 despite unresolved safety issues, including the FDNY’s rejection of a fire protection plan.
Prosecutors say the mayor received travel perks and illegal straw donations to his campaign in exchange for carrying out this favor and others at the behest of Turkish officials. The mayor has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“By rushing to allow the opening of Turkish House in advance of a ribbon-cutting ceremony with President Erdoğan, DOB and FDNY cut serious corners that could have compromised the safety of the occupants and neighbors of the building,” Lander said in a statement.
The consulate was the only building of its category that was allowed to open without an approved fire plan, a “troubling breach of process,” Lander wrote in the report.
The building’s fire plan was ultimately approved three years after opening on Sept. 26, coincidentally the same day Adams’ indictment was unsealed.
But on the same day, the city’s Department of Buildings denied the consulate’s application for a new temporary certificate of occupancy, citing that the building didn’t submit complete paperwork. Since then, the building has been operating without a valid certificate of occupancy.
Previously, the Turkish consulate had been operating with the temporary occupancy certificates despite a two-year limit on the use of such permits, the Daily News previously reported.
“This building has been inspected by our Bureau of Fire Prevention on multiple occasions. It has received violations that were remedied, and a reinspection was conducted prior to any approvals being issued. The location also has adequate fire safety staff for the commercial occupants,” a spokesperson for the FDNY said in a statement.
The Turkish House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The consulate is not eligible to file for a permanent certificate of occupancy, because it has standing violations of the Building Code and Environmental Control Board code, including a May 2024 violation for a 16th-floor glass façade and others related to elevator testing.
“We treat the safety of our fellow New Yorkers as a top priority, and if any member of the public has safety concerns about a building, they are strongly encouraged to file an official 311 complaint, so that we can investigate the issue,” Andrew Rudansky, a spokesperson for the DOB, said in a statement.
Lander said his audit also revealed a larger issue within the DOB: Over 3,500 buildings in the city are currently operating with occupancy approval, including over 600 office buildings that haven’t had the approval for an average of 3.5 years.
Sources at the DOB said that a lapse in TCO doesn’t necessarily mean the building is unsafe, and is viewed as an administrative mishap.
