No-bid migrant contractor DocGo’s successor set to reap $450M in NYC taxpayer money
A disaster response company that replaced the controversial DocGo as a migrant services provider for New York City could cost taxpayers more than $450 million – and counting – over the last year, The Post has learned.
Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) called on the city and state comptrollers to investigate Garner Environmental Services' contract in a scathing Thursday letter exclusively obtained by The Post.
Garner had previously inked a $30 million emergency services standby contract with the city. When City Hall ended its $432 million no-bid contract with DocGo in May after months of backlash, it handed the troubled company's responsibilities for sheltering the city's tens of thousands of migrants to Garner.
But Brannan, the council's finance committee chair, who's running for city comptroller, argued that Garner is set to reap nearly $457 million, according to city records — more than DocGo's widely criticized $432 million contract — and without being meaningfully audited and scrutinized.
"As DocGo's contract with NYC ended, the Mayor's office projected Garner's management of asylum seeker relief services to save the City $10 less per person per night than DocGo," his letter states.
"However, it is difficult to see how those savings are being passed on to New Yorkers given the astronomical, 15-fold inflation of this contract's value."
Garner representatives said the company has not yet received the $457 million tallied by Brannan and city records.
"Garner is proud to offer more cost-effective services to New York City taxpayers compared to previous vendors addressing the migrant crisis," said Todd Riddle, CEO Garner Environmental Services, in a statement.
"We value our longstanding, two-decade partnership with the city and remain committed to delivering reliable, efficient solutions during this critical time."
DocGo's woes were a thorn in Mayor Eric Adams' side as his administration grappled with the first waves of what would be 200,000 migrants, and counting, arriving in New York City starting in 2022.
The city had tapped DocGo, a firm that offered COVID testing, to provide shelter, food and other services for migrants under a $432 million emergency contract in May 2023.
But the massive deal proved fraught, beyond being awarded without the typical competitive bid process that most government contracts go through.
The company came under fire for using unlicensed security guards at city migrant shelters , tossing out thousands of uneaten meals a day and accusations of costly mismanagement.
Adams ultimately didn't renew DocGo's one-year contract, with city officials instead shifting responsibilities to Garner, a Texas-based emergency response company that has provided emergency services for New York City going back to 9/11, according to its representatives.
City officials did so under a pre-existing contract between Garner and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Brannan's letter states.
The $30 million agreement served as a "parent" contract, from which the city has doled out $426 million more in direct orders that come from agencies handling migrant shelters and other needs, essentially paying as it goes.
One recent direct order unfolded Oct. 7: The city shelled out $3.2 million for "emergency shelter operations" at the 455 Jefferson St. humanitarian relief shelter for migrants in Brooklyn, records show.
Garner is one of several companies that provide migrant services for the city, and the direct orders cited by Brannan's letter include pre-existing projects before the switchover from DocGo.
Brannan contends Garner's practices for the city have been "deeply alarming."
His letter, citing a recent audit by city Comptroller Brad Lander, argues Garner "exploited" Health & Hospitals, making the public hospital system pay more than $117 per hour for security staff while charging another city agency just $79 per hour under the same contract.
Garner also charged more than $130 per hour for managers at migrant shelters, well above DocGo's $88.33 rate, Brannan's letter states.
"While it is undoubtedly the fault of the Adams Administration for failing to coordinate negotiations more aggressively, Garner's complicity in pilfering one agency for significantly higher profits is unacceptable," Brannan charged in the letter.
Garner reps said the company plans to respond more broadly to the specifics in Brannan's letter.
City Hall officials referred comment to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, where representatives said the Garner contract is part of a decade-old agreement to address emergency needs.
Brannan's letter, which is addressed to Lander and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, notes Garner also holds an $800 million contract with New York state that wasn't subject to a pre-audit.
