Living larger on city dime

The NYPD detail assigned to escort city Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters to and from work tightened his security earlier this week, the Daily News has learned.

Though the city-owned SUV he’s assigned is much bigger than the one he was given when he started as commissioner, earlier this year he put in for an even bigger one.

Peters (photo) also won approval for new offices in Lower Manhattan earlier this year that will cost the taxpayers $350 million and include a firing range and stunning views of the East River.

All this has occurred behind the scenes as Peters publicly expanded his empire by folding the city hospitals inspector general into his portfolio and reconfiguring how NYCHA’s watchdog does its job.

And it all went swimmingly until Peters overreached in a power play last spring to try and take over the Special Commissioner of Investigations for the city school system. Now City Hall has assembled a dossier to justify his removal and Mayor de Blasio — the man who appointed him — is considering showing him the door.

Earlier this week, the Investigation Department confirmed to The News that Peters’ security had been increased over what previous DOI commissioners had received.

“Security was tightened this year for the commissioner,” department spokeswoman Diane Struzzi said in response to a News inquiry about the change.

Struzzi said Peters’ security was “slightly tightened over that provided to previous DOI commissioners based on a NYPD and DOI assessment.” She refused to discuss the reasons for the change or describe details, saying only that the “arrangement is consistent with security for other city law enforcement officials, such as the five district attorneys.”

“The request did not come from Commissioner Peters,” Struzzi said. “Beyond that, due to security confidentiality, DOI declines further comment.”

When Peters was appointed by de Blasio in early 2014, he was assigned a Ford Explorer — the same make and model city-owned vehicle that his predecessor, Rose Gill Hearn, had used. Within a year, Peters requested a bigger car because the Explorer “was not large enough to hold the number of staff that were attending external meetings,” Struzzi said.

A much larger GMC Yukon with a third row of seats was purchased for him using funds seized in criminal forfeiture actions. That, apparently, wasn’t big enough.

Earlier this year Peters went to the agency that handles city purchases, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), to request an even bigger SUV — a GMC Yukon XL — “based on the commissioner’s need for additional space in his vehicle,” Struzzi said.

The Yukon XL features 39.3 cubic feet of trunk space — far more than the 15.3 cubic feet in the regular Yukon. DOI did not explain why Peters needed extra trunk space.

So far Peters’ request is on hold. In March DCAS “informed DOI that Yukons have maintenance issues and requested that DOI look at different eco-friendly, high-capacity models,” Struzzi said.