A safety-tech firm that hired the right-hand man of a top Mayor Adams aide may now be seeking to expand what was a small, trial-run of school bus cameras into a citywide program, the Daily News has learned. Justin Meyers, former chief of staff to Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks , departed his office last September to become president of BusPatrol, whose automated enforcement technology aims to deter drivers from illegally passing stopped school buses. Their systems are being tested on a couple dozen local school buses.
A year after Meyers’ exit, BusPatrol is expected to be one of the bidders after the New York City Department of Transportation put out a request for proposals to expand the high-tech camera systems — from 30 to 250 school buses. A provision of the city charter blocks ex-officials from appearing before their former city agency for one year. The News has found no evidence that the former Banks aide is in violation of that revolving-door provision, and there is no law prohibiting former government officials including Meyers to work for private firms such as BusPatrol.
But the revelation comes amid a federal investigation into influence-peddling among key members of the Adams administration. Banks’ devices were seized and home raided as part of the probe . “Justin Meyers did not lobby the City of New York for or participate in discussions with the City about the NYCSBUS pilot’s creation or the drafting of the RFP,” said Kate Spree, a BusPatrol.