Dear New Yorkers, 

In times of crisis, New York City government turns to something called emergency procurement. This is a process that allows City agencies to expeditiously contract for goods and services during emergencies. 

In recent years, emergency procurement has helped the City respond to extreme flooding, survive the COVID-19 pandemic, and house thousands of new arrivals seeking asylum. 

But as my office has highlighted in previous audits, the City’s administration of the emergency procurement method is deserving of scrutiny and improvement. 

Today I’m proud to share a first-of-its kind report on New York City government’s use of emergency procurement. Overall in this deep-dive, we found systemic delays relating to oversight submission requirements, underreporting of subcontracts, and lack of vendor performance evaluations.

My team examined 292 new emergency contracts from January 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023, totaling $1.73 billion. During this period, agencies filed emergency contracts on average 144 days (nearly five months) late. And among the 17 agencies with emergency procurement contracts, only eight agencies recorded subcontractors. 

As some of our key findings indicate, the spirit and law of transparency in the City’s charter-mandated procurement rules are not always being followed, thereby impeding the ability to provide mandated and necessary oversight. You can view our full emergency procurement report here.  

• Delays in the submission of critical information impedes proper and timely oversight reviews. 

• Agencies are not doing enough to ensure that prime vendors and subcontractors have been properly vetted, tracked, and evaluated. 

• Vendors seeking to compete for and provide emergency goods and services face high barriers. 

• Emergency contracts are not subject to the same procurement laws, rules, regulations, and agreements as other methods. 

Look, the emergency procurement method is a valuable tool that enables City government to immediately address a serious need for required goods or services that cannot otherwise be met through the normal procurement process. New Yorkers rely on the City to act as quickly as possible.  

However, agencies using the emergency procurement method must make sure that they are complying with oversight and contract management requirements. They cannot defer reporting deadlines. They must adhere to guidance around transparency, accountability, and greater cost efficiency when stewarding City dollars. 

Otherwise, unscrupulous vendors could take advantage of the situation, supplies could go to waste, and the public could lose its trust in government to act responsively and responsibly in times of crisis. 

This is exactly why my office is currently conducting a real-time audit of the City’s $432 million contract with DocGo, a company that is supposed to provide shelter, social services, and legal services to new arrivals. 

View our emergency procurement report, and learn more about the procurement process, in our new report. 

Thanks for reading, 

Brad