[FONT=Verdana]The FBI has joined an investigation into Rochester demolition contracts, and the city has halted demolitions of dozens of vacant homes in some of Rochester's poorest neighborhoods, a city official confirmed Wednesday.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Sinisgalli Inc. of Rochester, the contractor that was to perform the work, sued the city last week claiming it has been wrongfully caught up in an investigation of misconduct by city employees.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]It was not clear Wednesday how many employees and contractors are subjects of the city-initiated investigation.

"This is an ongoing investigation, and I cannot comment on the scope of it," city spokesman Gary Walker said, adding that the FBI was called in by the city.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Sinisgalli sued the city in New York state Supreme Court, asking that a judge reinstate the demolition contracts and award $25,000 in damages. A hearing is set for Oct. 28.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The company has done business with the city the past 30 years, and the city work makes up a significant portion of Sinisgalli's business, company attorney Vincent Barone said. However, in letters dated Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, city officials informed Sinisgalli that its newly awarded contracts were canceled, future contracts were on hold and existing contracts would be voided in cases where demolition materials remained on the properties.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"The city has provided no reason whatsoever for cancellation of dozens of public works contracts," Barone said.

The terminated contracts affect 45 vacant, city-owned houses mostly in northwest Rochester but stretching across neighborhoods from Upper Falls to Lyell-Otis and other points west of PAETEC Park. Barone valued the canceled contracts at $150,000.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]In the city's letters to Sinisgalli, which the Democrat and Chronicle obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request, the city said only that the contracts were terminated under a contract clause allowing the city to halt work "whenever for any reason the city shall determine ... is in the best interest of the city." City Corporation Counsel Thomas Richards also noted that future contracts were being reviewed to determine whether Sinisgalli was the lowest, responsible bidder.[/FONT]
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Sinisgalli, for its part, contends that nothing has changed, and if city officials now question the company's standing, they are required to state their reasons in writing. The company says it has not been told of any allegations, but states in the lawsuit that "certain slanderous and/or libelous representations may have been made to (the city) falsely accusing the petitioner of impropriety, irresponsibility and/or other wrongdoing."[/FONT]