Just before the close of 2024, Mayor Eric Adams’s scandal-plagued administration faced another round of controversy. On December 20, the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer—Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey, a close Adams ally—resigned amid sexual-harassment allegations.
The controversy began in November, when Lieutenant Quathisha Epps, one of Maddrey’s subordinates, was listed among the NYPD’s top overtime earners. Epps reportedly made roughly $204,000 in overtime last year, which, combined with her $164,477 base salary, made her the NYPD’s highest-paid employee.
Then, in December, Maddrey abruptly resigned. Soon after, reports emerged that Epps had accused the chief of having coerced her into sexual acts in exchange for lucrative overtime shifts. She also alleged that Maddrey required her to finance some of his personal expenses—including a vacation for him and his wife—with her overtime earnings, as well as perform personal errands. According to Epps, when she refused his advances, Maddrey retaliated by instigating an Internal Affairs investigation into her overtime usage and publicly revealing her place on the top-earners list, which led to her suspension. Epps then filed a Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the city. Maddrey, through his attorney, denies the allegations, claiming that Epps “is trying to deflect her wrongdoing by making these allegations . . . in the hopes that she'll get away with part or all of her scheme.”
Just after New Year’s Day, when Maddrey was suspended without pay, federal agents searched his Queens home. It was part of a separate ongoing Southern District of New York investigation, reportedly into whether federal funds were misused by Maddrey or others to cover Epps’s allegedly stolen overtime.
Though Mayor Adams is now distancing himself from Maddrey, calling the situation “extremely concerning and alarming,” the scandal highlights a pattern of controversies within his administration. Adams appointed Maddrey as chief of department in 2022 despite his history of scandal and sexual harassment allegations. In 2016, for example, Maddrey was accused of a physical altercation with a subordinate with whom he was allegedly having an affair as well as giving inaccurate and misleading statements to the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. Investigators recommended terminating him for providing false statements, but he settled by forfeiting 45 vacation days.
Then, in 2021, while serving as the NYPD’s chief of community affairs, Maddrey voided the arrest of a retired colleague who had allegedly chased three boys with a gun in Brownsville. The Civilian Complaint Review Board concluded that Maddrey had abused his authority and recommended docking him up to ten vacation days. Former commissioner Keechant Sewell agreed, but Adams defended Maddrey, insisting that his actions were justified and reportedly even asking Sewell to withdraw the discipline—allegedly precipitating her resignation. Sewell’s successor as commissioner, Adams ally Edward Caban, dismissed the case against Maddrey, ruling that the CCRB lacked jurisdiction. Notably, the only individual disciplined was the sergeant who had initially approved the arrest. Despite intensifying criticism, Adams repeatedly stood by Maddrey, proclaiming his “utmost respect and confidence” in him.
Maddrey’s case is one of many in the Adams administration involving officials who initially enjoyed the mayor’s unwavering support. Deputy Mayor Philip Banks III, close to Adams for decades, was appointed, despite being named an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal corruption case. Federal agents later seized his electronic devices as part of an ongoing investigation, prompting him to quit. Similarly, Timothy Pearson, a senior advisor and former NYPD official, faced multiple sexual harassment lawsuits, and allegations of seeking kickbacks and of involvement in a brawl at a migrant shelter. Though Adams initially defended him, Pearson also resigned, underscoring the administration’s tendency to back questionable figures until controversies escalate beyond control.
At the heart of these controversies lies Adams’s penchant for supporting allies whom he believed would bolster his own power, only to see their alleged corruption, personal flaws, and ensuing federal scrutiny undermine his administration and his own political standing. By shielding embattled longtime friends in return for presumed loyalty, Adams has fueled a cycle of scandal that threatens to consume his administration from within.
Stripped of political capital by his recent indictment, Adams can no longer install his friends and backers at will. His appointment of Jessica Tisch—who distinguished herself with bold leadership at the Sanitation Department—as the new police commissioner may signal a break from the obstructive micromanagement he once exercised through figures like Banks and Maddrey. As investigations continue, it remains to be seen whether Adams will change course or revert to a familiar—and ultimately self-destructive—strategy.
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