Mayor Eric Adams’ nominee for New York City’s top lawyer position says he would recuse himself from a variety of cases involving past clients who have been fighting to upend key city-backed policies, such as building emissions restrictions, rent regulations and congestion pricing.
At the same time, he said, those fights would make him a good choice for the job.
Attorney Randy Mastro, a former deputy to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told city councilmembers on Tuesday that he would step aside from a range of major issues because of his past ties if he were confirmed as corporation counsel, the attorney tasked with defending the city in court.
At a hearing to consider his candidacy, Mastro was questioned on his work representing condo and coop owners suing to block the city’s Local Law 97, which sets emissions rules for residential buildings. He was asked about his advocacy for a landlord attempting to dismantle the state’s rent-stabilization laws affecting roughly 1 million households. And he was questioned about how he represented New Jersey in its bid to stop New York from implementing a congestion pricing toll on drivers entering the city.
“Any current matter that I have that involves the city in any way, even if the city isn’t a direct party, like congestion pricing — not a direct party in my case — but I would be recusing myself,” Mastro said.
Mastro said he would also recuse himself from cases involving his former law firms, Gibson Dunn and King & Spalding, according to guidance he received from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
“I err on the side of recusal or seeking the guidance on whether I should recuse,” he added.
Councilmember Keith Powers questioned how the city could appoint a top attorney who would have to step aside from major cases, such as the challenges to Local Law 97. The law was a hard-fought environmental provision passed under former Mayor Bill de Blasio that would require property owners to make costly upgrades in order to make buildings more energy efficient.
“How do we move through the nomination process, address what I think are fairly substantial issues that the city of New York should be participating in or requiring your litigation skills,” Powers said.
Mastro said the city’s Law Department is already doing a good job defending the city. He also said his work defending clients in direct opposition to city policies make him a strong candidate.
“It’s really important that you have a corp counsel who comes out of that background and understands how to protect your interests and your objectives from potential litigation,” he said.
Powers and other councilmembers grilled Mastro on a range of past cases and clients, including his work on behalf of a property owner trying to roll back rent regulations in a case plaintiffs hoped to bring to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mastro said he would specifically recuse himself from any case related to the state’s 2019 rent laws, which strengthen protections for tenants in roughly 1 million regulated apartments in the five boroughs.
Mastro said he himself did not oppose rent regulations but represented a client who found them “draconian.” The five-year-old amendments eliminated rent increases on vacant apartments and capped rent hikes following apartment renovations, among other measures.
“The effects of some of these amendments was just too much for these small landlords,” he said.
Adams nominated Mastro for the role of corporation counsel last month amid ongoing state and federal investigations into his 2021 campaign, and a sexual assault lawsuit against the mayor himself.
Corporation counsel is one of a handful of positions that requires approval from the city council.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Adams called Mastro a “great attorney.”
“He has represented this city well. He’s a great New Yorker,” Adams said. “And I think we would all be proud to have him represent the City of New York. But that determination goes through the Council. They have the right to vote on and confirm him.”