BY SAL GRECO
The questions surrounding New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and the business interests and affiliations of her husband, investor Dan Levine, are no longer confined to one transaction or one City agency.
Now there is a third situation that deserves scrutiny.
And this one involves $25 million in taxpayer money, the New York City Council, Council Speaker Julie Menin, and the Fulton Fish Market — an organization where Levine is publicly identified as Chairman.
On August 17, Speaker Menin appeared at the Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point celebrating a massive City Council investment in the market.
Menin herself publicly announced: “I’m so proud to share that the City Council has allocated $25 million in funding to the Fulton Fish Market Co-op.”
That alone is significant.
But when viewed alongside the relationships surrounding the people involved, the appearance deserves much closer examination.
Dan Levine Isn’t Merely Connected to the Market — He’s Its Chairman
Dan Levine is the husband of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
And Levine’s own professional biographies publicly identify him as Chairman of the Fulton Fish Market.
The Council on Strategic Risks identifies Levine as the founder and managing partner of Tenfore Holdings and states that he plays an active role on several boards, specifically listing “Fulton Fish Market Chairman “.
That distinction matters.
We’re not talking about someone who simply invested in a seafood company years ago or maintains a remote financial connection.
We’re not talking about someone who simply invested in a seafood company years ago or maintains a remote financial connection.
According to his public biography, Levine occupies a leadership position at the organization benefiting from a $25 million City Council investment.
The Council Just Put $25 Million Into Fulton Fish Market
The funding isn’t speculation either.
Reporting following adoption of the FY2027 budget identified $25 million over two years to modernize the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative as one of Council Member Justin Sanchez’s major South Bronx budget victories.
The money is intended to upgrade the market’s aging infrastructure, including refrigeration, while supporting a demonstration kitchen and workforce-development efforts.
To be clear, Sanchez has been publicly credited with spearheading the investment.
But Julie Menin is not an ordinary Council member.
She is the Speaker of the New York City Council.
And now the Speaker is publicly celebrating a $25 million allocation at an organization chaired by the husband of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
That deserves questions.
The Relationship Makes the Optics Even Worse
There is another component that cannot simply be ignored.
Menin and Tisch have a longstanding relationship. Their repeated public appearances and association are not something that suddenly materialized with this Fulton Fish Market announcement.
Against that backdrop, Menin personally appearing at the market to celebrate $25 million in City Council funding creates terrible optics.
Does appearing together prove corruption?
Absolutely not.
Does friendship establish an ethics violation?
No.
And does the available evidence establish that Menin personally directed $25 million to Dan Levine?
No. In fact, the public record credits Council Member Sanchez with securing the funding.
But those qualifications do not make the underlying questions disappear.
They make transparency more important.
When taxpayers see the Speaker of the City Council celebrating $25 million in public funding for an organization whose chairman is the husband of a powerful City official with whom the Speaker has a longstanding relationship, they are entitled to know exactly how the decision was made.
Now It’s Three Sets of Questions
This becomes particularly noteworthy because Fulton Fish Market isn’t the first time Levine’s business relationships have intersected with New York City government.
The Sal Greco Show previously examined questions surrounding RaySecur, whose technology has reportedly been used by the NYPD Bomb Squad while Levine’s Tenfore Holdings has been publicly identified as an investor.
Then came the Official NYC Bin.
As previously reported by The Sal Greco Show, while Tisch headed the Department of Sanitation, DSNY awarded the exclusive Official NYC Bin contract to Duramax Holdings LLC, doing business as OTTO Environmental Systems North America.
At the same time, publicly available information showed that Levine’s Tenfore Holdings had described a strategic relationship with the Otto family office.
Importantly, our previous investigation did not establish that Levine or Tenfore possessed a direct ownership interest in the company receiving the NYC bin contract. That distinction was made clear in our reporting.
But it raised disclosure and recusal questions that remain worthy of answers.
And now comes Fulton Fish Market.
RaySecur.
The Official NYC Bin.
Fulton Fish Market.
Three different situations.
Three different intersections between Levine’s professional interests or affiliations and New York City government.
That doesn’t establish three ethics violations.
But at what point does a pattern of potential conflicts — or even the appearance of conflicts — require comprehensive disclosure?
This One Stinks to High Heaven
The phrase may be blunt, but the optics stink to high heaven.
A City Council led by a longtime associate of Jessica Tisch approves $25 million for an organization chaired by Tisch’s husband.
Then the Speaker herself goes to the organization and publicly celebrates the investment.
Again, that is not proof of corruption.
But government ethics are not supposed to begin and end with whether someone can prove a crime.
Public officials are entrusted with taxpayer money. When personal relationships overlap with decisions involving tens of millions of dollars, the public has every right to demand documentation demonstrating that proper procedures were followed.
The answer shouldn’t be: Trust us.
The answer should be: Here are the records.
Menin Needs to Answer Some Questions
Speaker Menin should answer several straightforward questions.
What role did she personally play in obtaining or approving the $25 million Fulton Fish Market allocation?
Was she involved in negotiations specifically concerning the Fulton Fish Market?
Did she discuss the proposed funding with Jessica Tisch or Dan Levine?
Did Levine, anyone representing the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative, or anyone associated with it communicate with Menin or her staff concerning the allocation?
Was Menin aware when the funding was considered that Levine was publicly identified as Fulton Fish Market’s Chairman?
Was Menin’s relationship with Tisch and Levine disclosed to anyone involved in reviewing the funding?
Was an ethics determination sought?
Did the Council’s attorneys or compliance personnel examine whether any disclosure or recusal was appropriate?
And exactly who will control the $25 million once the capital projects move forward?
Those aren’t accusations.
They’re basic questions about $25 million in taxpayer money.
Levine’s Role Needs Clarification Too
There are questions for Fulton Fish Market and Levine as well.
What exactly does Levine’s position as Chairman entail?
Is he compensated?
Does he possess an ownership or other financial interest in the Cooperative or related entities?
Will he or any company with which he is affiliated benefit directly or indirectly from improvements financed with the $25 million?
Who will select contractors?
Who will approve expenditures?
Which City agency will administer the projects?
What procurement requirements will apply?
And what conflict-of-interest disclosures were submitted before the Council committed the money?
Those answers could completely change the complexion of this story.
If Levine receives no financial benefit whatsoever, that should be documented.
If Menin had no involvement whatsoever beyond her institutional role as Speaker, that should be documented too.
Transparency protects everyone involved.
Tisch’s Position Makes This Different
Jessica Tisch isn’t simply another City commissioner.
She runs the NYPD.
She has repeatedly positioned her administration around accountability and integrity, and she has overseen investigations and disciplinary decisions affecting the careers of other public servants.
That makes transparency surrounding her own family’s business interests particularly important.
The standard cannot be aggressive scrutiny for rank-and-file cops and City employees while potential conflicts surrounding the Police Commissioner’s own household are dismissed as irrelevant.
If there is nothing improper here, releasing the relevant records should help establish that.
Release the Paper Trail
The City Council should release or identify the documentation showing exactly how the $25 million Fulton Fish Market allocation originated and progressed through the budget process.
The public should be able to determine:
- who initially requested the funding;
- who sponsored it;
- which Council officials negotiated it;
- what entity legally receives or controls the funding;
- what City agency administers the capital projects;
- what disclosures were made concerning Levine’s position;
- whether any conflict-of-interest analysis occurred;
- whether Menin participated specifically in discussions concerning the allocation;
- and whether any communications occurred between Menin, Tisch, Levine and Fulton Fish Market representatives concerning the funding.
Those records — not political talking points — can resolve these questions.
The Questions Aren’t Going Away
Our previous reporting explicitly stated that the publicly available evidence did not establish that Jessica Tisch violated an ethics rule in connection with the Official NYC Bin procurement.
That remains true.
Likewise, the information currently available does not establish that Julie Menin improperly directed money to Dan Levine or that Levine personally profited from this $25 million allocation.
But that’s not the end of the inquiry.
It’s the beginning.
Because the Fulton Fish Market development adds a third potential conflict-of-interest or appearance-of-conflict issue involving the professional world of Jessica Tisch’s husband and the government in which Tisch holds one of its most powerful positions.
And this time, $25 million in taxpayer money is involved.
Julie Menin showing up at Fulton Fish Market to celebrate that investment while Levine is publicly identified as its Chairman only makes the need for answers greater.
New Yorkers shouldn’t have to guess whether relationships influenced government decisions.
They shouldn’t have to guess whether conflicts were disclosed.
They shouldn’t have to guess whether recusals occurred.
And they shouldn’t have to guess whether someone close to a powerful City official stands to benefit from taxpayer-funded decisions.
The documents exist.
Release them.
Because after RaySecur, the Official NYC Bin, and now the Fulton Fish Market, asking questions about transparency isn’t conspiracy.
It’s accountability.