Before Mayor Eric Adams was indicted in late September, he and many of his associates were subjects of federal investigations. Members of his administration—many of whom are Adams’s friends or former colleagues—became ensnared in legal issues or scandals of their own. These developments may have been startling, but a closer look at Adams and his inner circle’s past makes these scandals seem almost predictable.
Start with the mayor himself. In 2006, while still a captain in the NYPD, Adams was the subject of an internal investigation for appearing on television in his official capacity to criticize Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s handling of a terror threat; he was found guilty by a department tribunal for speaking on behalf of the department without authorization. Soon thereafter, he departed for an opportunity to run for the state senate, bringing with him the relationships he had cultivated in the NYPD and that would come to shape his administration.
One of those relationships was with Philip Banks, who has known Adams since the 1980s and, until earlier this month, served as Adams’s deputy mayor for public safety. Banks had previously resigned from the NYPD in 2014 amid a federal investigation. FBI agents uncovered that while serving as NYPD’s chief of department, Banks accepted bribes, including meals, sports tickets, and a $20,000 “gift” from a businessman. The investigation also revealed that Banks made over $300,000 in unreported cash deposits and failed to declare rental income from his Queens properties to the IRS. Adams nevertheless appointed him as deputy mayor of public safety.
Banks resigned from that post earlier this month after an FBI raid on his house and that of his brother, former city schools chancellor David Banks, who also resigned amid this scrutiny, as did his recently betrothed wife, Sheena Wright, Adams’s former first deputy mayor. Given the timing of the nuptials, some speculate that Wright and David Banks married in order to try to gain spousal privilege to avoid testifying against each other.
Another administration official, Tim Pearson, resigned from his role as senior advisor in late September amid several investigations and after having had his devices seized. Pearson, a retired police inspector who collects a NYPD pension, joined the administration in 2022, despite continuing to work as vice president for security of the Resorts World in Queens. Last year, he was allegedly involved in an altercation with security guards at a migrant shelter, which the city’s Department of Investigation is still examining. Notably, Pearson has faced allegations that he sought kickbacks from migrant shelter contracts, reportedly asking, “Where are my crumbs?” While Adams has not been directly implicated, the scandal led to the abrupt resignation of his former top legal counsel, Lisa Zornberg, who had reportedly advised Pearson on migrant contracts.
Yet another Adams official, former NYPD commissioner Edward Caban, also stepped down amid alleged scandals. The former commissioner is reportedly being investigated for alleged influence-peddling involving his brother, James. A Brooklyn bar owner claims that James attempted to extort $2,500 from him in exchange for stopping alleged police harassment of his bar. Investigators are also probing allegations that James acted as a “fixer” for other upscale Manhattan nightclubs and restaurants, purportedly using his brother’s connections to ease tensions with the NYPD in return for payment.
Governor Kathy Hochul has the legal authority to remove Adams, and she has leveraged that authority to reshape his administration without creating a political firestorm. The governor has been careful to nudge out top officials under investigation but not to challenge Adams openly. She can’t risk appearing weak on corruption, but having Adams leave office before March 26, 2025, would entail a political gamble. His removal or resignation before that date would trigger a nonpartisan special election; in such a crowded electoral setting, one that rewards name recognition, former governor Andrew Cuomo could stage a political comeback.
For now, Adams’s cooperation with the governor and the political calculus surrounding potential successors have kept him in Gracie Mansion. But the thick cloud of scandal engulfing the sitting mayor makes New York City’s future hard to see clearly.
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