Eric Adams’ story is a sad one, of a police officer turned local official turned mayor and now federal defendant. His political career is ending. It’s time for his city to move on.
Eric Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges on Thursday, the first sitting mayor in New York’s history to be brought up on federal charges. The indictment accused Adams of five counts of bribery, wire fraud, and solicitation of donations from foreign nationals.
I wish I could say I was surprised. But I saw this coming.
Back in 2021 at a mayoral debate, I said, “Eric, we all know you’ve been investigated for corruption everywhere you’ve gone, city state and federal. You’ve achieved the rare trifecta of corruption investigations. Is that really what we want in the next mayor? [If] you enter City Hall it’s going to be exactly the same.”
This is someone who had managed to run afoul of the rules at every step of the political ladder. Even the union he once belonged to, the police captains union, had chosen not to endorse him. One reason I ran was that I thought I could run a good, clean, competent administration.
After Eric won, I hoped it would work out. My son was in public school. But when asked how I thought it would go, privately, I said, “When you put someone undisciplined and unprincipled in charge of a lot of people and resources, bad things generally happen.”
Eric had a habit of hiring close friends, associates and confidantes for important roles that may or may not match up with their capacities or qualifications. I thought it was quite likely that his administration would be dogged by corruption, cronyism and self-dealing.
Even with these expectations, the past several weeks have been stunning. A police commissioner, school chancellor, chief lawyer, and the head of the department of health all resigning. Numerous associates under a cloud of federal investigations and confiscated personal devices.
And now this historic indictment.
I read the indictment with a mixture of curiosity and incredulity.
Do I believe that Eric Adams accepted luxury flights and accommodations from the Turkish government and then tried to return the favor? Sure.
