2 weeks Ago
The biggest city in the country is in the midst of a major political scandal, and things appear to be unraveling in New York Mayor Eric Adam's administration. There are federal investigations, top level resignations, and scandals reaching back into his 2021 mayoral campaign. Adams's inner circle has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, although the mayor himself has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing, and so far has not been accused of anything.
Just last week, NYPD Commissioner Eric Caban stepped down a week after federal authorities seized his cellphone in an ongoing investigation. Days later, Lisa Zornberg, the chief counsel and legal advisor to the mayor also submitted her resignation. That was followed by the resignation of Kristen Kaufman, the deputy commissioner of public private partnerships and economic development this week.
In a recent press conference this week, Adams sought to take focus off his administration. "I'm focused on protecting the people of this city and the investigations will take care of themselves," Adams said. "And that is not where my time is going to be consumed; of answering the same questions over and over again.
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Getting context. So when did Adams' problems begin? According to Gothamist and WNYC reporter Elizabeth Kim, – sometime late last year. "This goes back to November when federal agents raided several individuals, most notably Adams' top fundraiser," Kim told NPR.
She added that it wasn't unusual for there to be investigations into a mayor's fundraising, and that there was one for the previous mayor, Mayor Bill de Blasio. "But what was unusual and really raised people's eyebrows, was when federal agents also seized the mayor's phones. That's when the political observers started thinking that this is rather serious, because that was pretty much unprecedented in New York," Kim said.
So what exactly is Adams being investigated for? Kim says the first thing to keep in mind is that these are ongoing probes. As a rule, federal prosecutors do not speak publicly about the investigations. "We do know that part of the focus has been on illegal donations from Turkish officials.
Then there's another investigation into one of Mayor Adams's fundraisers who really focused on the Chinese community. And with that, that's really all we know. We know that her home was also searched.
" There is also an investigation into the New York Police Department. "That one has also involved the police commissioner's brother. He happens to be a consultant in the nightlife industry.
And there has been some reporting that it could involve bribery involving even a member of the mayor's administration. He recently let go of someone who was in charge of nightlife operations." Then there's the investigation into the deputy mayor for public safety.
"This is a person, whose name is Phil Banks, whose relationship with the mayor stretches back decades. He happens to be the brother of the schools chancellor. Now, there has been focus on yet another member of their family, a brother who works as a consultant and has represented businesses who have contracts with the city.
" Adams' response and next step. According to Kim, the mayor has aimed to downplay these investigations from the start. "He wouldn't even call it an investigation.
He would refer to them as reviews. He would remind the public that he, as a former police officer, was a member of law enforcement and that he has always followed the rules, is what he says, and that he has always told his staff to follow the rules," she added. But she explains that in recent weeks, beginning with the departure of the police commissioner, the mayor has been forced to address this shift, and acknowledge the concerns that New Yorkers have.
"So the mayor, who had COVID last week, had a virtual address both to announce the resignation of the police commissioner, but also to try to reassure New Yorkers that he was not distracted by these investigations and that he was going to let them play out and that he was confident that it would come out that he had done nothing wrong." This episode was produced by Marc Rivers, with audio engineering by Neil Tevault. It was edited by Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun..
