New York Attorney General Letitia James has not taken enforcement action against three homeless shelter operators since 2019, even as people tied to those groups gave her campaigns more than $56,000.
Story Snapshot
- Three shelter operators — Samaritan Daytop Village, Acacia Network Housing, and CORE Services Group — have faced no enforcement action from the attorney general’s office since 2019.
- People connected to those groups gave more than $56,000 to James’s campaigns, including a shelter board member and James’s longtime campaign strategist.
- A 2024 city investigation found nepotism, no competitive bidding, and high salaries across 51 city-funded shelter providers, including two of the named operators.
- CORE already lost its city contract, got raided by federal agents, and faces a lawsuit over $2.3 million in alleged excessive executive pay.
- A James spokesperson says her office protected shelter funding and criticized President Trump over proposed cuts to shelter money.
Donations From Shelter-Linked Figures Add Up
Vito F. Pitta, a board member at Samaritan Daytop Village, gave $6,000 to James’s campaigns since 2018. His lobbying firm, Pitta LP, added another $22,500. Separately, James’s longtime chief campaign strategist, Luis Miranda Jr., works as a lobbyist for Acacia Network. He and his wife, Luz Towns-Miranda, donated a combined $25,898 to James’s campaign committees over the same period.
Together, the donations tied to the three operators add up to more than $56,000. None of the money came from the shelter organizations themselves, since nonprofits cannot legally donate to political campaigns. The money came instead from individuals and firms with direct business or employment ties to the shelters James’s office oversees as the state’s top charity regulator.
Three Operators, Years Without Enforcement
Samaritan Daytop Village, Acacia Network Housing, and CORE Services Group have run city-funded homeless shelters for years. All three have faced scrutiny from other government bodies, including the New York State Comptroller’s Office, the state Inspector General, the New York City Department of Investigation, and federal authorities. James’s office, which regulates charities statewide, has not brought an enforcement case against any of them since she took office in 2019.
That gap stands out because other watchdogs did not stay quiet. City, state, and federal officials all opened reviews or took action against shelter operators during the same stretch. The attorney general’s office, by contrast, shows no public record of a case against these three groups, even as questions about their finances piled up elsewhere.
Other Watchdogs Already Flagged Problems
A 2024 New York City Department of Investigation review of 51 city-funded shelter providers, including Acacia and CORE, found “nepotism, lack of competitive bidding and exorbitant salaries”. The findings covered a wide swath of the shelter system, not just the three operators named in connection with James’s donors, pointing to problems that stretched across many city-funded providers.
CORE Services Group faced the most visible consequences. New York City cut ties with CORE in November 2021. Federal agents raided its Brooklyn headquarters the next month. The city later sued CORE to recover $2.3 million it says the group paid out in excessive executive salaries. Those actions came from city and federal officials, not from James’s office.
James’s Office Defends Its Record
A spokesperson for James said her work protected shelter funding and that all New Yorkers should be able to live with dignity. The spokesperson also turned attention to President Trump, criticizing his administration’s proposed cuts to shelter funding. The statement did not address why the office has not brought enforcement action against the three named operators since 2019, or whether any internal review took place.
The attorney general’s office can accept complaints and open confidential inquiries that never become public enforcement filings, so the absence of a public case does not by itself prove nothing happened internally. Republican attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy has pointed to the shelter findings as evidence James ignored fraud, sharpening the issue as a campaign flashpoint heading into next year’s race.
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