Opinion
December 31, 1990
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Held, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
We agree that the Board of Review of the New York City Board of Education did not act in an arbitrary and capricious manner in denying the petitioner status as a responsible bidder for an asbestos removal contract. The petitioner corporation's president, sole stockholder, and principal officer, Ante Grgas, was recently convicted of a Federal felony, upon pleading guilty to payment of a gratuity to an inspector of the Federal Environmental Protection Administration in connection with another asbestos abatement project. The Board of Education, concerned with the petitioner's integrity in fulfilling the asbestos abatement contract and cognizant of its obligation to provide a safe place for New York City children to receive their education, could rationally conclude that petitioner is not a "responsible" bidder on the basis of that criminal conviction (see, Abco Bus Co. v. Macchiarola, 52 N.Y.2d 938, cert. denied 454 U.S. 822; Matter of Omega Transp. Co. v. Aiello, 52 N.Y.2d 939; Matter of Crescent Bus Corp. v. Board of Educ., 95 A.D.2d 776). Accordingly, the proceeding was properly dismissed. Bracken, J.P., Kooper, Miller and Ritter, JJ., concur.