Westchester's solid waste 'quandary:' Why City Carting is still operating without license
A company stripped of its solid waste license in Westchester, following criminal charges alleging it had falsified business expenses, is still running the county's recycling operation.
City Carting of Westchester reached a settlement in January that gave it 90 days to wrap up its affairs running the county’s Material Recovery Facility in Yonkers and transfer stations in White Plains, Cortlandt and Mount Vernon.
But the agreement was extended to at least May 24 because the county has yet to find a new company to take over the work or publicly seek a new vendor.
In July, the Westchester District Attorney's Office charged City Carting and its manager, Christopher Oxer, with filing false statements, alleging they reported $135,000 worth of Oxer's spending at two New York City strip clubs as expenses for equipment, repairs and maintenance. Oxer's father, Robert Oxer, is president of the company.
Christopher Oxer and the company have been negotiating a disposition to the criminal charges for months.
On Wednesday he pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in White Plains to tax charges accusing him of not including on his 2017 through 2019 tax returns $808,000 in personal spending he made with a City Carting credit card.
That included the strip club payments but also spending on escorts, vacations, clothes and expenses of his personal business.
He was freed on $250,000 bond and faces up to nine years in prison if convicted.
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City Carting first got the Westchester contract in 2004. The latest renewal in 2019 was to last through July 2024 and pay the company up to $123 million for the five years. The company also sells the recyclables collected and pays the county 25% of what it makes.
The county paid City Carting $49 million from August 2019 through March of this year, including $13 million since Oxer's arrest, said county spokesperson Catherine Cioffi.
It appeared early this year that CellMark, an international company with a regional headquarters in Connecticut, was in line to take over the county’s recycling operation.
The commission granted CellMark a permit to operate on Jan. 20. But no license has been issued to Westchester Material Handling, a subsidiary registered in New York the previous week by the head of CellMark’s recyclables division, James Derrico.
Derrico did not return a phone message left at his office.
Robert Oxer could not be reached. Robert Holdman, a lawyer for City Carting of Westchester in both the criminal case and before the Solid Waste Commission, declined to comment.
Peri Kadanoff, the executive director of the county's Solid Waste Commission, did not return phone messages this week.
County declines questioning
In response to a request to speak to someone about the transfer stations contract, Cioffi issued a statement:
“The Solid Waste Commission has authorized City Carting of Westchester to continue to operate for the purpose of not interrupting service for the residents of the county of Westchester. The county is currently evaluating options for the (Material Recovery Facility) and transfer station operations.”
Cioffi later refused to answer emailed questions on:
why CellMark has not taken over the contract;
why it was acceptable for a company no longer in good standing to continue operating the county facilities; ab
why the county has not yet publicly sought a new vendor for the operation.
The criminal charges against Oxer and City Carting of Westchester relate to ledgers the company presented to Kroll Associates, a monitor assigned to ensure that the company is not under the influence of organized crime. On six occasions between June 2018 and May 2019, the ledgers allegedly falsely identified company credit card spending at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club, Sapphire and the Prime 333 restaurant at Sapphire, as expenses for tires, tolls, equipment maintenance and repairs.
The commission was aware of the allegations months before the arrest and the violation was filed in June. In late January, a hearing officer’s recommendation was to revoke the license and give City Carting 90 days to end its operation. That was approved by the commission in February.
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification posted on the state Department of Labor website showed 79 employees were going to be laid off when City Carting shut its operation on April 25 as part of a stipulation of settlement between the solid waste commission and the company that has not been made public. That deadline was pushed and the county has not said whether it will be extended further.
Legislator MaryJane Shimsky, who chairs the county board's public works committee, said the contract has not been on the board's radar and she was trying to get up to speed on its status. She said she was unsure why no replacement has been found but that the operation can't be interrupted.
"This is obviously a quandary," she said. "They can't go on forever."
Twitter: @jonbandler
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: City Carting of Westchester still operating county's recycling program
