Tech Startup Gets on Fast Track to Install Sidewalk EV Charging Towers After Hiring Eric Adams’ Power Broker

10,000 Charging Stations

At the time Gravity was trying to get the city to install their EV chargers all over the city, the city Department of Transportation was already putting up chargers available for public use in all five boroughs. But these chargers were slow, taking four to six hours to fully charge a vehicle.

Looming Towers

Because the charging hubs would be installed on sidewalks, DCAS needs the approval of the city’s Public Design Commission, a volunteer board of engineers, architects, and elected officials that weighs in on the aesthetics of anything placed in a public space.

Renderings from Gravity show a “tree” that consists of a small box mounted on a slender pole with an arm that pivots down when in use, with a power cable that attaches to vehicles.

10,000 Charging Stations

Gravity’s pitch was that its 200 KW charging stations were much faster, providing 200 miles of performance with just a 13-minute charge. In fact, Cohen, a former professor at Columbia Business School who founded Gravity in 2019, claims to have the fastest charging electric vehicle hubs available.

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A Manhattan tech firm appears to be on the fast track for a lucrative contract to provide electric charging towers for the municipal vehicle fleet, after hiring the lobbying firm founded by one of Mayor Eric Adams’ closest advisors and raising big campaign donations for the mayor.

Gravity Technologies, which installs tree-like “smart poles” on sidewalks, was working out a contract with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) last fall, according to a confidential presentation to a city board from the department — with no sign of the competitive bidding usually required for doing city business.

The breakthrough came after Gravity hired Oaktree Solutions, founded by Adams’ former chief of staff Frank Carone. The company’s CEO, Moshe Cohen, had already hosted a campaign fundraiser for Adams soon after his nomination that raised $22,850.

Gravity brought in Carone’s firm after its pitch to the city Department of Transportation using another lobbyist went nowhere. Once it hired Oaktree, DCAS stepped in and began making plans to employ the company’s devices, records show.

Last October, DCAS submitted an application to the city’s Public Design Commission seeking approval to install Gravity’s fast charge hubs “throughout the city” for use by the municipal fleet of electric vehicles, according to a non-public project description obtained by THE CITY. The application stated flatly, “DCAS is currently in the process of contracting with Gravity in order to purchase their charging equipment and smart poles.”

DCAS has so far made no public effort to solicit proposals from vendors interested in providing the equipment for these stations — the usual protocol for municipal government when purchasing goods and services, under longstanding integrity rules.

Department spokesperson Dan Kastanis declined to explain the assertion in the DCAS Public Design Commission application that his agency was in the process of buying Gravity’s devices.

Instead, Kastanis stated that as part of the agency’s “exploratory work” DCAS representatives have “met with over 100 companies in the charging industry to learn more about their technology” — including Gravity. He said DCAS has not signed a contract with Gravity, but without providing a timeline, “We are planning to put out a fast-charger contract to bid.”

Gravity’s campaign to get the city to buy its fast charge hubs began during the final year of the administration of Adams’ predecessor, Bill de Blasio, who had set a goal of 1,000 EV charging stations by 2025 and 10,000 by 2030.

But Gravity CEO Cohen pivoted to Adams soon after his nomination for mayor, before he had even won the general election. In August 2021, Cohen hosted a fundraiser on the roof of the company’s West Village offices where multiple donors, including several Gravity staffers, made contributions totaling $22,850 for Adams’ campaign.

Cohen later posted on LinkedIn a video of the event in which he addressed the smiling mayor-to-be.

In the video the young tech entrepreneur stated that he was “not a political guy” but then went on to effusively praise Adams, thank guests for giving to Adams’ campaign, and encourage them to get their friends to give, too.

“The success of Eric, the success of the city, we’re all at your service as partners,” Cohen said, facing Adams and then addressing Adams directly: “We’re here to help you help us.”

When Gravity first lobbied DOT to adopt its fast chargers, the agency was in the process of opening up what would ultimately be more than 1,100 stations for public use across the city, 97% of which are Level 2 chargers that take hours to fully charge a vehicle.

But DOT had also started a small fast-charging program for public use and Gravity was hoping to greatly expand that with its hubs.

In 2021, while Adams was still fighting a closely contested primary, Gravity hired lobbyist Patricia Lynch, who continued working on its behalf after de Blasio left City Hall. Records show Lynch targeted top transportation department officials and mayoral aide Menashe Shapiro.

Gravity paid Lynch $5,000 to $7,500 a month, and records show Lynch zeroed in on DOT throughout 2022 and 2023, arranging for Shapiro and other agency officials to visit the firm’s charging site in a garage on West 42nd Street in late 2023.

On Friday Lynch said in an interview she was “in active discussions” with the city to adopt Gravity’s charge stations, but the plan could not go forward without federal funding that had been promised for months.

“We were in active discussions with the city but we ended our relationship with the client because the federal money had not been allocated for the cities and the states at that point,” she said.

In February 2024, Gravity and Lynch parted ways. Three months later in May, Gravity hired Carone’s firm, Oaktree Solutions, paying them $90,000 through October.

FAQs

Q: How does Gravity’s system work?

A: Gravity’s system consists of a small box mounted on a slender pole with an arm that pivots down when in use, with a power cable that attaches to vehicles.

Q: How fast are Gravity’s chargers?

A: Gravity’s chargers can charge a vehicle’s battery to 200 miles in just 13 minutes.

Q: How much does it cost to install Gravity’s chargers?

A: The cost of installing Gravity’s chargers is yet to be determined.

Q: Who is behind Gravity?

A: Gravity was founded by Moshe Cohen, a former professor at Columbia Business School.

Q: Who hired Gravity?

A: Gravity was hired by Oaktree Solutions, a lobbying firm founded by Frank Carone, a former chief of staff to Mayor Eric Adams.

Q: How much money did Gravity raise for Mayor Adams?

A: Gravity’s CEO, Moshe Cohen, hosted a campaign fundraiser for Adams in 2021 that raised $22,850.

Q: What is the goal of the city’s EV charging initiative?

A: The city’s goal is to have 1,000 EV charging stations by 2025 and 10,000 by 2030.

Q: How does the city plan to fund its EV charging initiative?

A: The city plans to use federal funding to support its EV charging initiative.

Q: Who is Frank Carone?

A: Frank Carone is a former chief of staff to Mayor Eric Adams and the founder of Oaktree Solutions, a lobbying firm that represents Gravity.