The longtime operator of the Downtown Heliport is urging Comptroller Brad Lander to reject the city contract with its replacement — a foreign partnership selected by the Adams administration.
Saker Aviation, which has run the city-run heliport for 18 years, is pushing back after the city Economic Development Corporation picked the Downtown Skyport LLC to run the city-owned heliport, which is used by President Trump’s Marine One and by US military and federal law enforcement officials.
The replacement company is a partnership that includes Skyport Infrastructure — the UK-based Skyports firm and the operator of the London Heliport — and France’s Groupe ADP, which operates Paris’ three airports.
William Wachtel, chairman of Saker, said in a Feb. 6 letter to Lander that the replacement group should be disqualified because it appeared to have made “material misrepresentations” to the EDC that include allegedly concealing “felonious activity” by Groupe ADAP subsidiaries with projects in Croatia, Madagascar, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.
Those resulted in “two deferred prosecution agreements with French financial prosecutors in 2023 and debarment by the World Bank Group in 2022,” Wachtel wrote in the letter, obtained by The Post.
“We say ‘appears to’ because we find it difficult to imagine that EDC and the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (“MOCS”) would knowingly make an award of this magnitude and importance to a serial felon,” Wachtel said.
Wachtel said a second reason for disqualification is the joint venture’s claims that it “operated” Stewart International Airport, a Port Authority airport in the Hudson Valley.
“This claim is utterly false,” Wachtel said.
“In fact, Stewart Airport is operated by AvPORTS, a major US airport operator owned by
Goldman Sachs and headquartered at Dulles International Airport in Virginia,” Wachtel said.
“In 2019, a Group ADP subsidiary and an AvPORTS subsidiary formed a joint venture for the purpose of marketing Stewart Airport more effectively and operating the airport’s terminal and food concessions with AvPORTS continuing to operate the airport.”
Lander’s office declined comment other than to say the new heliport contract is under review.
Downtown Skyport won the subsequent contract in a competitive bidding process.
Both of its foreign companies have developed the use of quieter electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, a top priority of Mayor Eric Adams.
Helicopter noise has long been a major bane of New York City residents, with 59,000 complaints recorded last year.
The heliport is located at the foot of Wall Street — Pier 6 along the East River, just north of the Staten Island Ferry and south of the South Street Seaport.
EDC defended the new contract with the Downtown Skyport consortium, but said Saker’s new objection is being reviewed.
“NYCEDC thanks Saker Aviation for their years of partnership and serving as the operator of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport,” EDC spokesperson Jeff Holmes said. “We have previously addressed and rebutted Saker’s claims about the selection of Downtown Skyports, and their most recent objection is under review.
“Groupe ADP and Skyports Infrastructure bring extensive experience in the heliport and airport operations, globally and domestically, and are perfectly positioned to advance the Adams Administration’s vision of transforming the Downtown Manhattan Heliport into a hub for innovation, cutting-edge mobility, and bringing dramatic quality-of-life improvements for New Yorkers.”
The EDC did point out that ADP is part of the consortium — Future Stewart Partners, LLC — that operates Stewart International Airport and is developing its commercial concession program.
Downtown Skyport declined to comment.
