WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. August 25, 2010: 

City  Chief of Staff, John Callahan, today said that Mayor Adam Bradley could not arrange directly to sell city land to his landlord even if he wished to do so.

Callahan told WPCNR, if the city were inclined to sell the two pieces of land to Walter Gabriele, the owner of 19 Hall Avenue, Mayor Bradley’s newly rented residence since June, the sale of both pieces of land adjacent to Gabriele's Hall Avenue complex would have to be approved by a majority vote of the Common Council.  Callahan,Chief of Staff and Corporation Counsel for the city noted any sale of city-owned land,no matter how small, had to be approved by the Common Council.

Five of the 6 members of the Common Council have publicly stated the Mayor should resign his office, and are still known to be very hostile to the Mayor.

Callahan, asked if possible sale of the land sought by Walter Gabriele, owner of Mayor Bradley's new residence, would come before the Common Council, said it was unclear since the city Real Estate Committee would have to recommend sale of it, and that meeting was not scheduled yet.

The Mayor’s scheduling of a series of meetings with Gabriele’s representatives with city departments to discuss sale of a 4,860 square foot parcel of city-owned land and a smaller 2,500 parcel and building issues involving demolishing 21-23 Harmon Street (in Battle Hill) was revealed today by Benjamin  Rubin (Journal News city beat writer).

Rubin learned of the details of the Board of Ethics "confidential" probe of the Mayor's interactions with Gabriele, based on 6 Freedom of Information Requests his paper made to the city which produced documents showing the Mayor scheduling meetings on July 8 to go over issues Mr. Gabriele wanted to discuss with the city.

The pieces of land in question surrounding Mr.Gabriele’s property at 1-19 Hall Avenue

Mr. Rubin’s report on the substance of his Freedom of Information "find" notes that Darren Grubb, Mayor Adam Bradley’s newest personal spokesperson, said the Mayor “proactively gave full and complete disclosure regarding his temporary residence at 19 Hall Avenue to the staff that handle the issues raised in the letter.”

The Mayor’s office has for years (especially in the last 12 years) has  scheduled meetings of developers at the drop of a hat at the request of developers large and small to discuss technicalities of developments, possible requests  and summoned department heads to “get right on it.”

Thursday evening,the Common Council is to consider hiring an attorney to continue with the Board of Ethics probe and determine if the charges the Mayor breached the city ethics by arranging these meetings are founded.