A photograph included in federal court filings shows Frank Carone (center) with Yan Po Zhu (left), owner of the Long Island City Microtel Inn at the center of the alleged bribery scheme. Zhu and Carone have both pleaded not guilty.
A photograph included in federal court filings shows Frank Carone (center) with Yan Po Zhu (left), owner of the Long Island City Microtel Inn at the center of the alleged bribery scheme. Zhu and Carone have both pleaded not guilty. ( Photo: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York)

Court records allege the former Eric Adams chief of staff accepted $120,000 in bribes to help secure a migrant shelter contract for a Long Island City hotel. Public records reviewed by Straus News show the contract later grew from $4.03 million to $14.38 million.

Texts, a Hotel Contract and the Frank Carone Bribery Case
16 Jul 2026 | 12:45
News

It was 2022, and New York City was scrambling to house an unprecedented wave of migrants. Hotels across the five boroughs were being converted into emergency shelters. Yan Po Zhu, the owner of a Long Island City Microtel Inn, wanted his hotel to become one of them. Federal prosecutors say city officials...

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