NYC scraps Manhattan helipad contract, restarts bidding after firm first picked for deal faced ethics complaints

The New York City government’s economic development arm has scrapped a downtown Manhattan heliport contract and is launching an entirely new bidding process for operating the pad — an unusual move that comes after conflict of interest concerns erupted over the aviation firm initially picked for the lucrative deal.

Controversy over the contract for the Pier 6 helipad near Wall Street began whirling in February after the Daily News reported that William Wachtel, chairman of Saker Aviation, the company in line for the deal, is law partners with Morris Missry, a board member at the city Economic Development Corporation.

After The News’ report, the EDC, which owns the helipad and awards contracts for running it, abruptly canceled a so-called “award to intent” hearing set for March 3 where Saker’s deal was supposed to get a final signoff.

The EDC refused at the time to say why it pulled the hearing, but insisted it had “nothing to do” with the Wachtel-Missry connection, which prompted two of Saker’s rival bidders to file complaints with the city calling for a re-do, citing concerns that Saker may have been privy to “inside information” about the confidential procurement process.

On Thursday, EDC spokesman Jeff Holmes said the corporation is withdrawing the contract first expected to be given to Saker and restarting bidding — but affirmed the reversal was not prompted by the conflict of interest concerns.

Rather, Holmes said the EDC made the decision due to “recent changes in the permitted uses of the downtown Manhattan heliport and the availability of federal funding to facilitate waterborne freight deliveries” at the pad.

“It is in the best interest of the city to re-solicit the RFP for an operator at the downtown Manhattan heliport,” Holmes added, using an acronym for “Request for Proposal,” the formal term for the city contract bidding process.

The terms of the new RFP are expected to be released later this spring, according to the EDC. A decision on which company will get the multi-million dollar five-year contract should be made by the end of 2023, the corporation said.

Saker has already operated the pad for over a decade, earning tens of millions of dollars from catering to the well-heeled tourists and business executives who use it for whirlybird trips. Saker’s current contract expires April 30, though, and EDC said the company will be granted an “interim concession agreement” that allows it to keep operating the pad while the new RFP process plays out.

Saker CEO Sam Goldstein declined to comment Thursday.

Wachtel vehemently denied earlier this year that his company modeled its bid after any sort of confidential information disclosed by his law partner. RFP processes — and specifics of offers — must by law be kept confidential to prevent a bidder from gaining unfair advantage over a competitor.

Holmes said the ethics complaints from Saker’s two rivals, Thoroughbred Sea & Air and Helo Holdings, were investigated by Maryann Catalano, EDC’s chief contracting officer.

In a memo sent to Thoroughbred and Helo, Catalano stated that her probe found ”no RFP submission materials from any respondent … were provided by NYCEDC to any other respondent during the course of this procurement process.”

“NYCEDC has found no other violation of ethics rules related to the handling of RFP submissions in connection with this procurement,” Catalano added in the memo, which was shared with The News.

Still, Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer said she found it “very unusual” for the EDC to withdraw Saker’s original contract after advancing it to an award to intent hearing.

“Unless there is criminal activity, I do not know of any contract being canceled like that,” said Brewer, who as Manhattan borough president used to have a vote on the Franchise and Concession Review Committee, the city entity that convenes intent to award hearings.

Beyond conflict of interest concerns, some stakeholders have questioned the necessity of having a helipad at Pier 6 in the first place, citing concerns about noise and pollution.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Comptroller Brad Lander, who hold votes on the Franchise and Concession Review Committee, said last month that Saker’s expiring contract should be an impetus for the city to “find better uses for this space, including as a marine cargo facility, a hub for test flights for electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles or use the air rights from this location to build approximately 9,000 units of housing.”

“With the postponement of this hearing, we urge the city to use this time to finally hear New Yorkers over the constant whirring of these helicopters and reconsider the award,” they said.