in Elections
Tracking Investigations In Eric Adams’s Orbit
Investigations into Adams and associates Adams, his campaign and Turkey Senior City Hall aides and associates Former police commissioner’s brother Other legal matters More
Adams, Eric L
Subterms
More stories
- in Elections
City Hall Seeks New York Police Commissioner’s Resignation
Edward Caban has faced increasing pressure since last week, when federal agents searched the homes of top officials in the Adams administration and confiscated electronic devices.Mayor Eric Adams’s administration is seeking the resignation of Edward A. Caban, New York’s police commissioner, less than a week after agents seized the commissioner’s phone in one of several federal investigations that have engulfed City Hall, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.Commissioner Caban has been under growing pressure to step aside since last Thursday, when news broke that federal agents had taken his cellphone, as well as phones belonging to several of the highest-ranking officials in the Adams administration.The mayor, a retired police captain who served on the force with the commissioner’s father and was close to him, appointed Mr. Caban in July 2023, making him the department’s first Latino commissioner.But the seizure of the phone belonging to the man in charge of the nation’s largest police force sent shock waves through the agency’s headquarters and City Hall. Agents last week also seized the phones of the first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright; her partner, Schools Chancellor David C. Banks; the deputy mayor for public safety, Philip Banks III; and a senior adviser to the mayor, Timothy Pearson, a retired police inspector who is one of the mayor’s closest confidants.The mayor’s own phones were seized in a separate earlier investigation.None of the people have been charged with a crime, but the raids buffeted the administration of Mr. Adams, which was already reeling from other legal problems. They include a federal inquiry into whether Mr. Adams and his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to collect illegal foreign donations in exchange for pressuring the Fire Department to sign off on a new high-rise Turkish consulate in Manhattan, despite safety concerns.It was not clear whether Commissioner Caban would actually resign. The Police Department did not immediately offer a comment.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Elections
Eric Adams Visits Black Churches to Bolster Support
The New York City mayor, Eric Adams, compared himself to a biblical figure who endured suffering, telling parishioners that he was having a “Job moment.”After perhaps the most challenging week of his political career, Mayor Eric Adams visited two Black churches in Brooklyn on Sunday and compared himself to Job, a righteous biblical figure who endured immense suffering but whose blessings were ultimately restored.The mayor never directly addressed the several federal investigations swirling around his administration. Last week, authorities took the phones of his first deputy mayor, his schools chancellor, his deputy mayor for public safety, his police commissioner and his senior adviser.Yet he used his appearances at the Black churches — a friendly environment that the mayor has often used for political messaging — to liken the investigations to the burdens placed on Job.“Job lost it all, and even his wife questioned him. ‘Where’s your faith? Where’s God now?’ His friends rebuked him,” Mr. Adams said from the pulpit at Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry in East New York.“And I wish I could tell you that I had one moment in my life that was a Job moment. But I did not have one. I had many,” the mayor said.The visits to Changing Lives Christian Center and to Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry — just a few blocks apart in an election district where, in the 2021 Democratic primary, Mr. Adams won more than 76 percent of first-round votes — seemed designed to shore up support among his base.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Elections
Cellphone Bans in Schools? NYC Is ‘Not There Yet,’ Mayor Says
Districts and states across the United States have supported restrictions on student usage, but New York City’s leaders are backing away from the idea because of logistical concerns.Los Angeles became the largest school district in the United States to ban cellphones in June. Entire states, such as Virginia, Ohio and Minnesota, have moved to institute broad crackdowns on phones in schools. But not New York City.At least not yet, Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday.Mr. Adams said at a news conference that New York City was a “unique animal” and that while there would be “some action,” the city was not yet ready for a full ban.“We’re not there yet,” he said. “We have to get it right.”Earlier in the summer, David C. Banks, the schools chancellor, suggested that new cellphone restrictions would be unveiled before the fall semester. So the mayor’s announcement — a week before the city’s first day of school — came as a surprise to many families.Mr. Adams’s comments will likely placate some parents and educators concerned about the logistics of a ban, while worrying others who argue that the devices harm students.A growing list of states, cities and school districts have curbed students’ cellphone use as concerns rise over their mental health. Officials point to the potential damage that access to social media and an “always online” culture may do to children.Mr. Adams said that while he did not want any distractions in city schools, he also wanted to be careful about the implementation of any eventual ban, so that the city wouldn’t have to backtrack on its plans.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Elections
Judge Finds Flaws in New York City’s Cannabis Enforcement Efforts
The city has appealed the judge’s ruling in favor of a convenience store in Queens that could have broader implications for enforcement.A state judge has ordered New York City to allow a convenience store in Queens to reopen after it was accused of selling cannabis illegally, a decision that could significantly affect the city’s effort to wipe out thousands of unlicensed sellers.The city quickly appealed the ruling issued Wednesday by Justice Kevin J. Kerrigan. He found that the city sheriff’s office had no legal reason to keep the store at 35-12 Bell Boulevard padlocked because the underlying summons had been dismissed after the city could not prove it had delivered it to the right person. The sheriff’s office issued the summons during an inspection in June, charging the store with selling cannabis without a license.After the summons was dismissed on procedural grounds, that should have been the end to the case, Justice Kerrigan wrote in his decision.Instead, the hearing officer, a lawyer who assumes the role of a judge in the case, went on to recommend that the sheriff’s office keep the business closed because she believed illegal activity was taking place at the store. She also concluded that she did not need to determine whether the illegal activity was more than minimal in making her recommendation, he said.The sheriff’s office accepted the hearing officer’s recommendations. The hearing officer’s guidance was wrong, Justice Kerrigan ruled.The series of decisions, he wrote, resulted in “a clear violation of due process under the 1aw.”“The court acknowledges that the unlicensed sale of cannabis within the City of New York represents an enormous public health concern,” he added. “However, summarily shuttering businesses prior to taking the necessary steps to determine whether a violation has occurred stands against the cornerstone of American democracy and procedural due process.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Elections
Mayor Adams Expected to Name Robert Tucker as New Fire Commissioner
Mr. Tucker will succeed Laura Kavanagh as leader of the Fire Department of New York City. A longtime supporter of the department, he has worked for 25 years in law enforcement and private security.Mayor Eric Adams is expected to name Robert S. Tucker as the new commissioner of the New York Fire Department, making him the 35th person to lead the agency, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.Mr. Adams is expected to make the announcement at a news conference on Monday.Mr. Tucker will take over leadership of the department from Laura Kavanagh, who stepped down last week after announcing in July that she would resign. Joseph Pfeifer, who served as first deputy commissioner under Ms. Kavanagh, briefly served as acting commissioner after her departure.As commissioner, Mr. Tucker will oversee a department of 17,000 employees, including firefighters and emergency medical workers.The appointment of Mr. Tucker was first reported by The Daily News on Sunday night.Like his predecessor, Mr. Tucker has never been a member of a fire company. He has, however, maintained longtime connections to the Fire Department and to law enforcement circles in the region.Mr. Tucker is on the board of directors of the FDNY Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the department. He also serves on the board of trustees for the New York City Police Foundation and as a police board commissioner for the Westchester County Police Department. Mr. Tucker was appointed in late 2021 to serve on Mr. Adams’s mayoral transition team, working on the Public Safety and Justice Committee.Mr. Tucker’s appointment is “a good thing” for the department, said Daniel A. Nigro, who served as fire commissioner for eight years before retiring in February 2022. Mr. Nigro, reached by phone Saturday in anticipation of Mr. Adams’s announcement, said he got to know Mr. Tucker through the FDNY Foundation and that he was a “highly intelligent” person who “knows his way around New York.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Elections
Adams Blocks Law That Bans Solitary Confinement in New York Jails
Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in New York City jails and suspended parts of a law banning solitary confinement, a day before it was to take effect.Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in New York City jails on Saturday and issued an executive order that blocked key parts of a local law that would have banned solitary confinement in the jails.The order, one of three Mr. Adams issued on Saturday that pertained to the jails, was an unusual step that came only one day before the law was set to go into effect. It was the latest move in a protracted battle over the legislation between the City Council and the mayor, a former police captain who ran for office on a public safety message. After Mr. Adams vetoed the bill in January, arguing that it would make jail staff and detainees less safe, the Council issued a rare override of his veto.The law would have banned solitary confinement for detainees who were accused of breaking jail rules, beyond a four-hour “de-escalation period” during an emergency. It would also have limited the use of handcuffs or shackles to restrain detainees riding in Correction Department vehicles.“The Department of Correction has been laser focused on reducing violence in our jails to protect both the people in our care and correctional staff who boldly serve our city,” Amaris Cockfield, a City Hall spokeswoman, said in a statement, noting that the federal monitor who oversees the jails had raised concerns about the law.The state of emergency is expected to remain in effect for 30 days, though Mr. Adams can extend it for additional 30-day periods. He has declared states of emergency before, including in response to the migrant crisis and the outbreak of monkeypox, but Ms. Cockfield noted that the mayor has never before issued an emergency executive order in response to newly passed legislation.It was unclear on Sunday what steps the Council would take in response. Emergency executive orders can only be challenged through the court system. But the mayor’s actions were attacked by elected officials who had backed the bill, including Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate, who called the decision an “abuse of power.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Elections
A Weapons Scanner Arrives in the Subway. Adams Says It Isn’t Optional.
Mayor Eric Adams announced that a new scanner would search for guns on the subway. Riders who refuse to be scanned, he said, will not be allowed to enter the system.Mayor Eric Adams announced the start of a contentious new plan to put a gun-detecting scanner in the subway on Friday and warned that New Yorkers who refused to be scanned would be kicked out of the system.Mr. Adams highlighted the scanner inside the busy Fulton Street subway station in Lower Manhattan, arguing that the technology would help make the subway safer.“Many New Yorkers will be familiar with this type of technology — it’s not new, and it’s being used in big cities across the country,” Mr. Adams said, noting that scanners were already being used at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Citi Field.A new pilot program will involve one scanner that will be moved to different stations over the next 30 days, city officials said. Mr. Adams said it would not cost the city any money.Civil rights groups immediately called the scanners unconstitutional and said they were preparing to take legal action.“New Yorkers did not consent to give up their rights or be N.Y.P.D. guinea pigs for overhyped and error-prone surveillance tech,” said a joint statement from the Legal Aid Society and the New York Civil Liberties Union. “We are prepared to protect the right of all subway riders to be free from N.Y.P.D. intrusion and harassment.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
