(Bloomberg) — The mayor is facing criminal charges, his close associates are fleeing the administration and the very top ranks of the police department are in disarray.
Since Eric Adams became New York City’s first sitting mayor to be hit with a federal felony indictment, his signature “swagger” is giving way to signs of weakness.
A Marist poll released Friday found nearly 70% of New Yorkers want him to step down. His administration is quietly reversing course on a contentious road project, folding on a mobile phone ban in schools and bracing for a fight over a generational zoning change expected to bring significant new housing.
Long-term planning, key decision making and passing signature policies are all but impossible with a “politically radioactive” mayor, said John Kaehny, the executive director of Reinvent Albany, a government transparency group.
“When you have a mayor who is not able to act with strength, then you are creating a vacuum,” said Kaehny, who believes Adams should resign. “The longer that the mayor is debilitated by the indictment the worse it will get for service delivery and planning and general functioning.”
Sure, the city is still grinding on: Parks are open, trash is being picked up and emergency services personnel are responding to the public as dozens of agencies keep humming. But that seemingly unruffled surface belies the threat that the chaos swarming Adams poses to plans for reshaping New York’s future.
Adams, who deputized friends and close associates to run his administration and “get stuff done,” maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. New York’s second Black mayor has argued that he can simultaneously run the city and deal with the case against him. The departures from his inner circle? That’s just normal turnover, he contends.
“The city is still functioning and will continue to do so,” Adams said on Oct. 1, standing alone inside City Hall. That scene was in sharp contrast to his regular weekly gaggles, where he was typically flanked by administration officials. “If I felt we could not do our job here in the city, I would not get in the way of the city moving forward.”
Inner Circle
Adams gave those in his inner circle broad portfolios and vast powers within the city’s government. At times, that made for a confusing chain of command and allowed political appointees to interfere with the processes of large agencies, according to three people familiar with City Hall’s operations and who asked not to be named so they could speak freely.
The competing power centers and lack of focus also complicated negotiations over marquee items like the city’s budget and a bill increasing eligibility for a housing voucher program, the people said.
The mayor’s close advisers are now facing a diminished role in city government or are leaving altogether. Adams said on Monday that Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety, has resigned. He was among administration officials whose phones were earlier seized by investigators.
His brother, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, will retire on Oct. 16 after City Hall brought up the date of the departure.
The school official had previously announced plans to retire at the end of the calendar year following the seizure of his phone during a raid of the home he shares with his wife, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
Tim Pearson, another powerful senior aide who had his phones seized, resigned, effective Oct. 4. In late September, federal and state investigators intercepted Adams’ chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin at the airport upon her return from vacation and seized her phones as well. The aides have said they’re innocent, pointing out that they are not targets of the investigations.
Waning Influence
As for the officials who remain, their influence is waning. According to The City, an online news publication, Lewis-Martin intervened last year to water down a Department of Transportation plan to remove a lane of traffic from part of a major Brooklyn road and replace it with a bike lane and street parking. She did so as an Adams donor and ally opposed the DOT proposal.
On Wednesday, the DOT reversed its decision and announced it would move forward with its original plan that came before Lewis-Martin’s input. The move was praised by transportation advocates and local officials, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler.
Williams is in line to replace Adams if he resigns or is removed from office.
Now, with Adams awaiting trial and potentially facing more charges, federal prosecutors say it’s “quite likely” others will be indicted. The high-level resignations and the swirling criminal case have pushed city, state and federal officials to call for Adams to resign.
A judge granted a request by prosecutors that Adams not correspond or interact with witnesses and other unnamed individuals in the indictment, some of whom are senior aides, including Winnie Greco and Lewis-Martin. Neither is accused of wrongdoing in Adams’ indictment.
“A federal corruption indictment of this scale and gravity would distract and consume anyone,” Restler said. “This administration is further hobbled by the growing exodus of senior leaders. There is no world in which they can manage the city effectively under these circumstances.”
Fabien Levy, deputy mayor for communications, said city government continues to function.
“Every single day there are hundreds of people who walk into City Hall, and hundreds of thousands of people who walk into city agencies, who hold their heads up high because they are delivering for New Yorkers, and that’s what they do every day,” he said.
Policy Impact
Policies are feeling the impact. Banks, who will lead the school system until Oct. 16, said last week that “now is not the time” to pursue a mobile phone ban. The move would’ve affected 1.1 million students across 1,800 campuses in the nation’s largest school system.
A vote on the largest change to the city’s zoning policy in more than 50 years is due before year’s end. The so-called “City of Yes” amendment has been in the works for years and is projected to create 100,000 units of new housing over the next 15 years.
The policy includes several proposals around everything from parking to office conversions and accessory dwelling units. It faces stiff opposition from some city council members in districts that have shunned development, leaving it vulnerable to carveouts.
It’s the sort of big-picture signature policy that an administration is expected to put all of its political weight behind, leaning on wary council members and giving them cover for hard votes. But two people familiar with the coming negotiations don’t expect the mayor to be a major player in the discussion process.
Nobody wants to stand up next to a mayor dealing with a federal investigation and credibility issues, one of the people said. Kaehny of Reinvent Albany echoed that sentiment.
“The only people that are going to be seen with him are really hard core supporters and that does not include all those labor unions and business leaders that would chair a victory party,” Kaehny said. “They’re not going to hang out at an indictment party.”
(Updates with comment from city hall in the 21st paragraph.)
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