A company awarded a no-bid contract to care for and feed New York City migrants threw away as many as 70,000 uneaten meals worth $776,000 in just one month, a new report has found.
DocGo, a medical services company, got the $432 million deal to care for about 4,000 migrants in the northern city of the state, but is accused of wasting taxpayer money as Mayor Eric Adams was forced to pay billions to cut city services to tackle the crisis.
From October 22 to November 10, the company threw out more than 70,000 meals, labeling them as “wasted” in internal documents reviewed by The New York Times. The wasted food cost taxpayers approximately $776,000. As The Times notes, at this rate, food waste would cost the city $1 million a month.
The meals are lost for a variety of reasons, including the fact that many migrants are not present when they are served because they are at work or looking for work. Additionally, many have reportedly started cooking in their hotel rooms.
However, some migrants also say the food makes them sick and there are quality issues, such as the presence of mold. At Red Rood Plus in Buffalo, a company employee noted that migrants “really like the food,” adding, “Customers are angry and claim the food has mold in it and is making them sick.”
DocGo, a medical services company, got the $432 million deal to care for about 4,000 migrants in the northern city of the state, but is accused of wasting taxpayer money
From October 22 to November 10, the company threw away more than 70,000 meals and labeled them as 'wasted'. Meal provided by DocGo, seen above
The company, which previously operated as a COVID testing company, was awarded the no-bid contract in May to help bus migrants heading north and care for them when the city ran out of space.
A migrant from Haiti told The Times he had to go to the hospital after eating his first DocGo meal and now has to wear a special belt around his stomach to help with the gas the food gives him.
DocGo, which had no previous experience caring for migrants and previously operated as a COVID testing company, has been accused of mistreating the asylum seekers in its care.
The company was awarded the no-bid contract in May to help bus migrants heading north and care for them when the city ran out of space. The contract states that the food is intended to be provided at no profit to the company.
In August, Gov. Kathy Hochul opened an investigation into the company following complaints from migrants who said they were lured to Albany with promises of jobs and legal assistance and then abandoned by DocGo.
The company's CEO Anthony Capone, who faced accusations that he lied about his educational background, resigned in September for “personal reasons.”
Migrants claim they were lured to Albany with promises of jobs and legal assistance, then abandoned by DocGo
A spokesperson for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development told The Times that DocGo recently started ordering fewer meals and plans to cut $66 million from the program by the end of 2024.
DocGo spokesperson Rob Ford claimed: 'The data presented by The New York Times has again been taken out of context and is not accurate… DocGo continuously monitors food consumption and works to proactively identify savings opportunities on behalf of NYC'
The company was founded in 2015 by Stanley Vashovsky with the goal of “revolutionizing medical transportation and mobile healthcare.”
Adams signed $5,056,744,415 in nearly 200 migrant services contracts since last year, when he declared a state of emergency, allowing City Hall to bypass a competitive bidding process to deal with the surge of asylum seekers.
However, he lost that power earlier this month after it was revoked by Comptroller Brad Lander, who controls the contract with DocGo. He has said he has “serious concerns about the selection of this supplier and the performance of its contractual obligations.”
“There are simply too many outstanding questions and concerns about DocGo and this $432 million no-bid contract,” Lander added. “New Yorkers deserve real-time oversight and accountability to understand how this price tag was achieved, to ensure this company has the experience to deliver the contracted services, and to investigate the integrity and responsibility of this supplier.”
Last month, Adams announced a $110.5 billion budget, saying cuts were needed across all departments after the city spent $1.45 billion on the migrant crisis in the 2023 budget year.
Adams has signed $5,056,744,415 in nearly 200 migrant services contracts since last year
The cuts would result in NYPD officer cuts by one-fifth, or 13.5 percent, by postponing the next five academy classes, bringing the number of officers below 30,000 — down from 36,000.
Education would also take a $1 billion hit over two years and it would delay the rollout of composting in the Bronx and Staten Island, reducing waste collection and cutting cuts to pre-K programs of the city.
The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library would also have to eliminate Sunday service due to the budget cuts.
“Without adequate funding, we cannot maintain our current levels of service, and further cuts to libraries' budgets will unfortunately result in deeper impacts to services,” the libraries said in a statement.
The cuts would also reduce funding for two children's programs: summer school and universal preschool.
