The mayor hired the retired inspector, Timothy Pearson, without fanfare earlier this year in an unusual deal that also allowed Mr. Pearson to keep his job at the Resorts World New York City casino, where he was a vice president overseeing security and collecting police his pension. Officials declined to say how much he earns from the city-paid position. The hiring of Mr Pearson as a senior adviser on public safety and Covid recovery comes as the casino, which is owned by a Malaysian gaming group, seeks to expand its operations in New York. Watchdogs said his position presented an obvious conflict of interest because City Hall’s support for the effort could prove critical. In May, Mr. Pearson, created by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization controlled by the mayor, had been drawing salaries from the city and Resorts World in addition to his police pension for the past several months. Good government advocates had also criticized Mr. Pearson’s roles as the mayor’s public safety adviser and casino security chief as a separate conflict of interest because his city position allowed him to provide more police resources to Resorts World. A spokesman for the mayor, Fabien Levy, had said he did not see Mr Pearson’s dual role as a conflict. On Sunday, a statement issued by Resorts World said he had left the casino job. “Tim is a distinguished hero who has served the city for many years as a leader in the NYPD. Tim has used those same skills to keep our facility and community safe for over a decade,” the statement said. “We support his decision to lend his expertise to the city in its pursuit of making our roads safer and wish him well.” Resorts World declined to say how much Mr Pearson was earning in the executive role. Mr. Levy on Sunday defended Mr. Pearson’s hiring, saying New Yorkers were fortunate “that he has now chosen to focus all of his efforts solely on our city’s public safety and Covid recovery efforts.” Mr Levy added that the move was not related to the recent report that Mr Pearson had two jobs. Mr Pearson declined to comment. After reports of hiring Mr Pearson, Mr Adams said it was the right decision. “Okay, I want someone that I’ve known for over 30 years that has experience in public safety,” he told NY1. “This is a great hire.” He did not address the ethical concerns raised by collecting Mr. Pearson’s public and private pay at the same time, but said the city was acting within the law. John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, a government ethics watchdog, described Mr. Pearson’s exit from the casino job as a good development. “It reduces the conflict of interest that he had,” said Mr. Kaehny, who described the previous deal as an “impossible situation” because, at City Hall, Mr. Pearson may have information that could undermine other casino bidders. Mr Pearson, 62, was also able to continue collecting his $124,000 annual police pension because his state salary is paid through the Economic Development Corporation. Employees who work for traditional city agencies are not allowed by state law to collect a city pension at the same time. Earlier this week, the chairman of the Economic Development Corporation, Andrew Kimball, declined to answer questions about the arrangement under which his organization paid Mr. Pearson. Mr. Levy said earlier this week that Mr. Pearson’s municipal job duties had no overlap with casino politics and instead included working with law enforcement to help improve public safety, the centerpiece of Mr. Adams’ mayoral agenda. Mr Levy also said Mr Pearson would have resigned if any interaction had arisen between the casino and the development company. In addition to advising Mr. Adams on public safety and Covid recovery, Mr. Pearson is responsible for drawing up and executing a plan to keep the city’s schools open and engage with the business community, he said. Mr. Levy. His hiring comes as casino companies try to position themselves to take advantage of recent changes in state gambling laws. In April, New York State approved three new licenses for full-scale casinos. Resorts World, which currently only offers online gaming, is considered a front-runner for one of the licenses. Having one would allow the casino to also offer table games such as poker. The complex licensing regime will require several levels of approval, including the support of four of the six members on a community advisory committee. The mayor has one vote in this council. But it is expected to have a huge impact.
