Scrutiny of NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ administration marred by questionable appointments: critics

Critics allege that Mayor Adams is now embroiled in scandal, with poor management and the involvement of friends in the upper echelons of his administration being the main reasons.

John Keohney, executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany, said of Adams, “You have two brothers, a functional wife and a best friend, who are in positions like deputy mayor or senior advisor.”

“They ran out of red flags at the hardware store because they were using them on this.”

Among the people with top jobs and alleged influence under Adams: the Banks brothers, outgoing-schools Chancellor David and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip, whose father was one of Hizzoner’s lieutenants and a mentor during his NYPD days,

David Banks’ girlfriend, Sheena Wright, got the job as First Deputy Mayor, while Adams’s own girlfriend, Tracy Collins, got the job. Has a luxurious property worth $221,000 A one-year stint as a senior advisor in the city education department.

appointment of philip banks That was particularly worrisome, said Kahne, who pointed out that he retired as chief of the NYPD department in 2014 amid a sweeping federal investigation into police corruption, where he was named an unnamed co-conspirator.

That likely put him on the radar of bank executives the moment he was tapped for his position, Kehney said.

NYPD inspector and close associate of Adams Tim Pearson, a top aide who oversees lucrative migrant security contracts, was another person concerned about the appointment, According to the elbow.

“Initially, Adams was in conflict with the board over Pearson, which was taking two salaries, (including one from the casino)” and was seeking government approval to expand its operations, he said. Was.

The phones and electronics of David and Philip Banks, Pearson and Wright have been seized by federal authorities, who are investigating whether they rigged city contracts to benefit themselves or family members, sources told The Post. He had some hand in operating it.

No one has been accused of wrongdoing.

An Adams insider said the Turkey investigation, which involved free travel and campaign donations, “stems in part from bad management decisions,” including hiring unqualified people into jobs that require “not only ethical Honesty, but also extreme attention to detail, is required.”

Of particular concern was Adams’ former intern Brianna Suggs, who was selected to serve as a key adviser and fundraiser for her 2021 mayoral campaign.

Stay up to date with the New York Post’s coverage of Mayor Eric Adams’ impeachment

The insider said, “I don’t think he was aware enough about the strict laws surrounding campaign finance, especially when it comes to foreign nationals, and he prioritized raising money rather than making sure it was all over the board.” Be beyond.”

Adams, 64, started out as a transit cop and rose through the ranks of the NYPD to the state Senate, Brooklyn borough president, City Hall. He made history this week as the first sitting mayor to face criminal charges.

According to Democratic sources, Adams’s own ability to avoid ethical quagmire throughout his tenure as a policeman and his political career may have caught up with him once he finally reached City Hall.

“As its scope has expanded. , , As his power has grown, his staff has grown, the corruption has gotten worse,” said one Democratic council member.

During his time in Albany from 2007 to 2013, Adams was accused by the state inspector general in 2010 of accepting large campaign donations from people associated with bidders for a casino contract at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The case was referred to federal prosecutors, but he was never charged.

And after Adams was elected Brooklyn bleep in 2013, the city’s investigations department inherited a fundraising nonprofit he created to finance one of his office’s flagship projects, One Brooklyn. violated City rules.

A veteran Democratic insider said, “He came within an inch of being convicted several times and appeared to get away with it, so clearly he thought he could get away with it.” “But you can’t beat the Southern District of New York.”