Ex-NYC Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich writes children’s book as he waits for possible indictment
Disgraced ex-city Department of Buildings commissioner Eric Ulrich has written a children’s book where dogs are judges and juries in the court system — as he faces a possible criminal indictment for corruption.
Dubbed “If Pets Could Vote …”, the self-published book is meant for kids between the ages of three to eight years old and also features a chameleon city council member in its cast of characters,
“It can wiggle its way out of anything and c♛hange colors to match their surroundings,” Ulrich, a former Queens councilman, wrote of t🦂he reptilian avatar.
“That was a dig for sure,” he told the outlet Friday. “That had less to do with the humane treatment of animals andꦇ more about my former colleagues.”
Ulrich is expected to be indicted any day, law enforcement sources told The Post, after a criminal probe that may include allegations of misconduct from before he was the buildings de♈partment head.
The indictment — should it come — may also be related to favors that date back to Ulrich’s time as a city councilman, sources have said.
The 38-year-old former career politician — who as of January had been selling insurance to make ends meet — stepped down from his lucrative city government position in November 2022 after investigators from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office seized his phone and interrogated him for hours about a criminal ga💖mbling investigation.
Ulrich also may have racked up big gambling debts in backroom Ozone Pa🦩rk card games frequ𒁃ented by mob associates, sources have said.
Ulrich was not charged with a crime, but he resigned two days after news of the probe broke.
Authoriꦺties have continued the investigat♒ion since.
Prosec𝓰utors are looking into whether he got a deal on a below-market-rate apartment and if he accepted a discounted couch from someone who h𒁃ad business with his department,
Ulrich told Politico that he was disappointed Bragg’s office has decided to play his case out in the press by leaking details to the Times.
“It’s extremely unprofessional for a prosecutor’s office to be run this way,” Ulrich said. “But notwithstanding that, I’m not going to allow any of this smear and innuendo to deter me from living out my life in a positive, healthy way. Which is why I decided to spend my summer writing this children’s book.”
His book — which came out last week — features a parakeet president that would “pardon all her feathered friends and set them free from their cages,” Politico wrote.
It also puts pups in the judge’s seat and the jury box.
“How cute would it be to ♕see 12 little fluffy canines sitting in the court room? Surely, they would give shelter dogs a second chance,” Ulri𝔉ch wrote
His primary mission is to encourage the human t🦄reatment of animalღs, he told Politico.
“Shelter dogs shouldn’t be put to sleep,” he said. “Birds don’t belong in cages. God gave them wings to fly.”
On Monday, Ulrich touted that the book was “still in the top spot among Amazon’s New Releases in Children’s Cartoon Humor Books,” (formerly known as Twitter) that he was “overjoyed (and somewhat amused).”
Ulrich, who has a 10-year-old daughter, represented Queens’ 32nd District from 2009 to 202🎃1, when he term-limited out.
In January 2022, he joined Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as a senior advisor before taking ov🅷ꦬer the DOB.
In that role, he made more than $243,000 a year.
According to a recent report, Ulrich allegedly informed investigators that Adams told him in May 2022 to “watch your back and watch your phones” — mo𝔉nths before his cell was seized in the criminal gambling probe.
Adams denied the claim to reporters last Monday, sayi🅘ng it all sounded like a plot from “Goodfellas.”
