The New York City Department of Investigation’s staffing levels are so low that employees can’t go on vacation without “significant disruptions” to the agency’s work — a problem that’s becoming especially dire amid various corruption probes into Mayor Adams’ administration, according to a letter obtained by the Daily News.
The letter, sent Sept. 30 by Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer to city budget chief Jacques Jiha , notes the DOI had 370 employees in the 2021 fiscal year, the last cycle under ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
In the current 2025 fiscal year, the agency, which functions as the city government’s internal corruption watchdog, only had a headcount of 283 — a 24% staff reduction, wrote Brewer, a Democrat who chairs the Council’s Oversight Committee .
“DOI informed me on June 3, 2024: ‘We simply do not have enough people to cover the amount of work that is necessary to support our ongoing investigations and criminal cases,’” Brewer wrote to Jiha. “The need is so acute that DOI experiences significant disruptions when staff go on vacation.”