Ex-Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich's bribery bench trial opens

What happened

Former Queens City Council Member and former Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich went on trial Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, in Manhattan Supreme Court, QNS reported. It is a bench trial before Justice Daniel Conviser, so the judge, not a jury, will decide the case. Ulrich faces felony charges in four separate cases, including bribery and gambling charges tied to 2021 and 2022. He also faces a first-degree charge of offering a false instrument for filing, over claims that he failed to disclose gifts to the Conflicts of Interest Board in 2021. Ulrich denies all charges.

In opening arguments, prosecutors said Ulrich used public office as a "stepping stone for corruption" to feed a gambling addiction. They said he took more than $150,000 in cash, electronic payments and gifts from an "inner circle" of business owners in exchange for access and help with city agencies. Brothers Joseph and Anthony Livreri, owners of Aldo's pizzeria in Ozone Park, pleaded guilty last month to bribing him. Tow company owner Michael Mazzio also faces bribery charges.

Prosecutors said Ulrich helped Mazzio's towing company with a licensing issue at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. In return, they said, Mazzio bought a Mets season ticket worth almost $10,000 in Ulrich's name and paid for Subway Series tickets. They said Ulrich helped Mazzio's daughter get a city corrections job for $500 from Mazzio and $1,100 from the daughter. Prosecutors also said Ulrich got Aldo's an expedited Health Department re-inspection in February 2022 for $300. They said he helped Fortunato Brothers Bakery get a fire-related vacate order rescinded in March 2022 in a way that "entirely circumvented" the normal process, for $4,000.

Ulrich's lawyers said he never took a bribe. They called the payments loans and gifts between longtime friends from a man who borrowed widely to support his gambling. They said he only "passed along a resume" for Mazzio's daughter. Ulrich was first charged in September 2023 by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He resigned as Buildings Commissioner in 2022, shortly after the DA's investigation began. Testimony is expected Oct. 19 to 21 and Oct. 27 to 29.