New York Attorney General Letitia James has never taken enforcement action against three of New York City's most scandal-plagued homeless shelter operators since she took office in 2019, even as people tied to those nonprofits gave more than $56,000 to her campaigns over the past eight years, according to a report published Saturday that is now roiling the final days of her re-election race.
The report, published by the New York Post on October 31, names Samaritan Daytop Village, Acacia Network Housing and CORE Services Group — three taxpayer-funded nonprofits that have repeatedly drawn scrutiny from the state comptroller, the state inspector general, the New York City Department of Investigation and federal authorities over alleged insider deals, lavish executive pay, inadequate oversight of public money and other misconduct. Critics, led by James's Republican challenger in Tuesday's general election, say the pattern raises serious questions about whose interests the attorney general is protecting. James's campaign has not addressed the hands-off record directly, instead attacking her challenger's own donors.
The Charges, in Brief
According to the Post's review of campaign records, executives, lobbyists and spouses connected to the three operators donated more than $56,000 to James's campaign committees since 2018. None of the three organizations has faced enforcement action from the attorney general's office since James took office in 2019, critics say — even as other watchdog agencies documented serious problems at each of them.
The city Department of Investigation's 2024 examination of 51 city-funded shelter providers, including Acacia and CORE, uncovered examples of "nepotism, lack of competitive bidding and exorbitant salaries" across the city's multi-billion-dollar shelter system, according to the report. The same agency singled out the attorney general as having the power to "bring action to enjoin, void or rescind" improper insider deals at nonprofits — authority critics say James has not used against these operators.
"These are precisely the kinds of abuses the attorney general is supposed to investigate," said Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican former federal prosecutor challenging James in Tuesday's election. "Yet while other watchdog agencies have exposed serious misconduct, Letitia James has refused to hold these operators accountable. The fact that individuals tied to these [three] organizations have contributed thousands of dollars to her campaigns raises serious questions about whose interests she is protecting."
Samaritan Daytop Village: Overbilling, Pay Raises, a Troubled Facility
Samaritan Daytop Village, whose administrative headquarters are in Queens, is the largest of the three operators in the report's account, and its record includes some of the most concrete dollar figures. A 2024 audit by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found the nonprofit overbilled the city by $566,556 over the previous two years. A follow-up audit earlier this year found the Department of Homeless Services had yet to recoup $385,109 of that amount, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Samaritan chief executive Mitchell Netburn received a 25 percent salary increase to $465,289 in 2025, even as the nonprofit operated at a loss for a third consecutive year, according to its financial filings cited in the report. The Department of Investigation also found that Samaritan purchased legal and insurance services from companies tied to its own board members.
Samaritan's board includes Vito F. Pitta, who has donated $6,000 to James's campaigns since 2018, according to records cited in the report. His lobbying firm, Pitta LP, contributed another $22,500.
The nonprofit's facilities have also been the scene of serious incidents. In 2019, Marcus Coles, a house manager at Samaritan's residential treatment facility in Ellenville, New York, was arrested for raping a woman in his care and pleaded guilty to a felony sex offense. The nonprofit was subsequently sued by the state for allegedly failing to adequately vet Coles, who had a lengthy criminal history that included multiple burglary and illegal drug arrests. The case was later settled.
In 2022, 3-year-old Shaquan Butler Jr. was found dead with bruises at the Pan American Hotel in Elmhurst, Queens, which Samaritan then operated as a family shelter. At the time, local politicians accused Samaritan of poorly running the shelter, citing widespread drug use. The boy's father, Shaquan Butler, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 32 years behind bars.
And in March of this year, James's office petitioned a state judge to give Samaritan the title to the Ellenville treatment center — clearing the way for new state financing — because the corporate entity that originally owned the site had ceased operations, according to the report.
Acacia Network: A Lobbyist, a Security Firm, and Big Salaries
Acacia Network, a Bronx-based nonprofit, has its own ties to James's political circle, according to the report. Her longtime chief campaign strategist, Luis Miranda Jr., is among the top lobbyists for Acacia, which has racked up health and safety violations at properties it manages along with large payments to top executives. Miranda and his wife, Luz Towns-Miranda, donated a combined $25,898 to James's campaign committees since 2018, according to the records cited.
In 2019, the Department of Investigation probed Acacia following reports it steered tens of millions of dollars to a security firm founded by its president, Raul Russi — including $12 million in 2017 alone — without listing the relationships on city disclosures and tax filings. The agency's 2024 report flagged Russi's $935,391 yearly salary while noting that chief executive Lymaris Albors earned $836,684.
CORE Services Group: Raids, Lawsuits, and a Cut-Off Contract
CORE Services Group, the third operator named, collected $763 million in contracts over the eight years of the de Blasio administration, according to the report. In November 2021, the city cut ties with CORE after reporting revealed that its chief executive, Jack Brown, placed friends on the payroll and established a network of for-profit subcontractors that he used as his personal cash cow, according to the Post's account.
Brown collected more than $1 million annually from CORE and its affiliates combined, and he donated $2,350 to James in 2018, according to the records cited. In December 2021, federal agents raided CORE's Brooklyn headquarters, and the city sued CORE to repay $2.3 million in what it called "excessive executive salaries."
The Campaign's Response — and the Election Stakes
James's campaign did not directly address the allegation that her office has taken no enforcement action against the three operators. Campaign spokesperson Grace Smoker declined to address the hands-off approach and instead turned to her opponent's fundraising, saying, "Ms. Komatireddy has raked in donations from Trump's lieutenants and right-wing hacks, including [Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate] Vivek Ramaswamy," according to the Post.
The exchange lands days before Tuesday's general election, in which James is seeking another term as New York's top law enforcement officer. Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, has previously accused James of failing to hold other troubled homeless shelter providers accountable, and the new report gives that line of attack its most detailed airing yet — with named organizations, dollar figures and a documented trail of watchdog findings.
What This Means
The story matters for reasons that go beyond one attorney general's race. New York City's shelter system is one of the largest publicly funded homelessness operations in the country, serving tens of thousands of people on any given night and spending billions of taxpayer dollars a year. The report does not produce evidence that James personally traded enforcement decisions for donations, and her campaign's response leaves the central question unanswered rather than resolved.
What is not in dispute is the underlying watchdog record. The comptroller's audit, the Department of Investigation's examination and the federal raid on CORE are matters of public record, and they paint a picture of a shelter system in which oversight has repeatedly lagged behind the money. Whether the attorney general's office should have been the agency to close that gap is now a live question in the final days of the campaign.
What Happens Next
Voters will render their own verdict on Tuesday, when James faces Komatireddy in the general election. The report is likely to feature in the closing arguments of the race, with Komatireddy pressing the accountability case and James's campaign framing the attacks as politically motivated.
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