THE CITY
Just
a dozen days after Amazon announced this winter that it would pull out
of plans for a Queens headquarters in the face of raucous opposition,
the local authority that had helped forge the deal sought help from a
familiar face, emails obtained by THE CITY show.
Andrea
Hagelgans, the de Blasio admininistration’s former communications
chief, got a message from the NYC Economic Development Corporation chief
of staff James Katz on Feb. 26 requesting a phone call about a
“potential engagement.”
That
engagement — cemented in April at $80,000 for four months’ work — was a
reputational rescue led by Hagelgans at the public relations firm
Edelman, which she’d joined in 2018 after leaving her City Hall job.
Her
team signed up to lead a course correction in Amazon’s aftermath, the
correspondence shows. It would enhance EDC’s existing press operation,
rehabilitate the corporation’s wounded image and win future land-use
fights against community and political opponents.
EDC
spokeswoman Stephanie Báez characterized the hiring of Edelman as
nothing out of the ordinary. “EDC carries out dozens of complicated
projects that require time and attention,” she said.
“As in the past,
we’ve taken the straightforward step of engaging outside help to assist
with capacity and strategic support.”
She did not answer questions about total billing, whether the contract would be extended or renewed or if the work was ongoing.
Edelman declined to comment.
The
Edelman proposal from March, released to THE CITY under a Freedom of
Information request, describes EDC’s “most urgent needs” as “capacity
building and the preparations needed to weather and win critical land
use fights.”
“We
have designed a program that we believe meets your immediate needs
while propelling NYCEDC forward as you work to shape the future of NYC
for its residents,” Hagelgans wrote in an email to Katz.
The proposal also aimed to elevate EDC President James Patchett in the public eye, “building executive visibility.”
The objectives included positioning Patchett
“as a fierce advocate for business growth and development,” and
creating a “playbook outlining a strong defense to political or
community-related attacks surrounding high-profile land use fights and
other reputation risks.”
The
strategy involved a “systematic, rapid-response approach to effectively
navigate political and community-related opposition that could slow or
stall progress” on such deals.
