Acacia Network Housing has a rider on its contract with the city, spelling out transparency protocols for hiring security guards for the more than 250 homeless shelters it runs.City officials added the rider in 2022, and it's reflected in many new shelter contracts now per the city administrative code. The new rule was added after officials discovered that Acacia had not disclosed that two of its executives, Raul Russi and Jose Rodriguez, owned and operated its top subcontractor, the for-profit Sera Security Services. At the time, Russi was Acacia's CEO and Rodriguez was the agency's chief legal officer.Russi began his career as a police officer and corrections superintendent in Erie County. In 1998, he was on the staff of the campaign organization "Friends of Giuliani." When Rudy Giuliani won the mayoral election, he named Russi commissioner of the New York City Probation department. Russi has donated over the years to city Democrats and Republicans. He moved on to running shelter organizations in New York City in 2003.Rodriguez was a lawyer in private practice from 1979 to 2016 and has donated to Democrats running for City Council, mayor and public advocate. He's a graduate of CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Seton Hall School of Law.City officials scrutinized Acacia following 2019 news reports about Sera Security Services and a second for-profit firm, Distinctive Maintenance. The Department of Homeless Services investigated, and Acacia dissolved its relationships with both firms. Acacia also hired a financial consultant starting in March 2020 to put structures in place to comply with relevant city rules. The agency must seek prior approval from DHS before spending more than $20,000 on security and other services, according to Acacia's contract.The Department of Social Services has continued to contract with Acacia to run shelters - with spending authorization up to $1.59 billion and 23 city contracts averaging 3.2 years in length.Acacia did not respond to multiple Crain's interview requests, and DHS representatives declined to speak on the record.The two men involved in forming and hiring the guard service, Russi and Rodriguez, continue with the organization. According to Acacia's 2022 tax filing, the most recent available, Russi's title is president of Acacia Network - a larger umbrella organization with a portfolio of affiliates that includes Acacia Network Housing. His salary totaled $861,432. Rodriguez retained his title as chief legal officer of Acaia Network and was paid $560,176.One notable change in Acacia's structure, however, is that there is a new CEO. In January 2022 Acacia Network promoted Lymaris Albors from chief operating officer after 10 years with Acacia. She made $748,860 according to federal filingsMore than 98% of Acacia Network Housing's $243 million in annual revenue comes from public sources, according to its federal tax filing.Notable contracts The organization lists more than 250 properties in its federal tax filings, mostly in the Bronx, and says on its website that it serves 7,000 people including 2,500 homeless families. That constitutes 13% of the homeless shelter population in the city, Acacia says.The Department of Homeless Services renewed a contract with Acacia in February 2023, at a time when migrants were flooding New York's shelter system. The city agreed to pay $556 million over three years for 1,487 "commercial hotel" spaces. The charge per occupied unit per day is listed at $474.94.Acacia also contracts with the city Department of Social Services.In addition, Acacia operates an umbrella nonprofit, Acacia Network Inc., which provides infrastructure support - financial and organizational - to more than 100 community-based organizations in five states outside of New York, as well as in Puerto Rico. The affiliation agreements allow the individual community organizations to retain their own corporate identities and board composition.Origins and services South Bronx-based Acacia, founded more than 50 years ago, offers transitional housing for homeless people and ancillary social services such as health care, economic development and cultural revitalization to more than 150,000 individuals annually. It was formerly known as Basics, which stood for Bronx Addiction Services Integrated Concepts Systems.Basics hired Russi as its executive director in 2001, and he spearheaded an affiliation with another Bronx nonprofit, Promesa, which offered residential addiction treatment. In 2009, the collaboration was renamed the Acacia Network, according to the organization's website.In June 2015, Acacia, doing business as 115 Henwood Parking Corp., purchased an apartment building (115 Henwood Place) from Promesa Foundation Inc. for $12.5 million, according to city records.During Russi's tenure, he reportedly grew the organization from an annual operating budget of less than $5 million to approximately $500 million in revenue and close to $900 million in assets.Key playersAcacia's CEO Albors was born and raised in Puerto Rico and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor's in political science. She moved to New York City to attend Fordham University, where she earned a master's in public communications. She is a fellow of the 2014 Executive Leadership Program of the National Hispana Leadership Institute, holds an executive leadership certificate from Harvard University's Kennedy school, and serves on the boards of the Legal Action Center, Casabe and Blythedale Children's Hospital.Acacia touts itself as "the premier Latino-led nonprofit organization in New York State and one of the largest in the nation."Albors has been a regular donor to city Democrats, including Melissa Mark-Viverito, Ruben Diaz Jr., Letitia James and Bill de Blasio.At the time of Albors' promotion, Russi's title had been changed to president.Walter Mack, a former deputy commissioner at the NYPD's internal affairs bureau, serves on Acacia's board. Carmen J. Villa-Lugo is the chairwoman of the board and also serves as a lawyer in Bronx Housing Court. Another board member, Henry Comas, lists his employer as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Board member Wilfred Renta is the former CFO of the Bronx's Neighborhood Association for Intercultural Affairs, a nonprofit that helps people facing eviction. Board members are not paid.The nonprofit retains lobbying firm the Mirram Group at a cost of $13,000 a month, according to state records.Problem areasCity officials began investigating Acacia in July 2019 for failing to disclose that its executives founded or operated its top subcontractor, Sera Security Services. The following month, the city's Department of Investigation expanded its probe to Acacia's ties with Distinctive Maintenance, another subcontractor.Acacia's then-CEO Russi founded Sera, and Acacia's chief legal officer, Rodriguez, was Sera's CEO. In 2017 Acacia paid Sera more than $12 million to provide security services at some of its shelters, according to the Wall Street Journal. Since 2015, Acacia had paid Distinctive Maintenance more than $17 million to clean and maintain its shelters and rehabilitation centers but didn't file the appropriate paperwork or make required disclosures about the relationship, city officials said at the time.A spokesman for Acacia at the time said that no Acacia employees received any money from Distinctive Maintenance.The city Department of Housing Development and Preservation has sued Acacia six times since January 2022, mostly for tenant complaints about lack of heat and hot water. Neither HPD nor Acacia responded to a request for comment.Property holdings and valuesAcacia lists $900 million in assets on its website.How they are held accountableAs part of an April 2022 agreement with the Department of Homeless Services, Acacia is required to report wages, work hours, sick time and more with regard to guard service subcontractors, according to the contract provided to Crain's by the city comptroller's office after a public records request.DHS did not respond to a request to review this subcontractor paperwork.Any violation of this rider must be fixed within 30 days or the city may terminate the contract.
