Poor management and putting pals into the upper echelons of his administration are key reasons Mayor Adams is now mired in scandal, critics charged.
“You have two brothers, a functional wife, and a best friend, who are in these positions of being deputy mayors or senior advisers,” said John Kaehny, executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany said of Adams.
“They ran out of red flags down at the hardware store because they were using them up on this.”
Among those 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, landed a job as first deputy mayor, while Adams’ own girlfriend, Tracey Collins, has a plush $221,000 a year gig as a senior advisor in the city Department of Education.
The appointment of Philip Banks was especially concerning, said Kaehny, who noted he retired in 2014 as NYPD chief of department amid a sprawling federal probe into police corruption, where he was named an unindicted co-conspirator.
This likely put Banks on the authorities’ radar the moment he was tapped for his post, Kaehny said.
Chad Rachman/New York Post
NYPD inspector and close Adams associate Tim Pearson, a top aide who has overseen lucrative migrant security contracts, was another concerning appointment,according to Kaehny.
“At the very, very beginning, Adams was in conflict with the Conflict of Interest Board over Pearson, who was taking two salaries, [including] one from a casino” that was looking for government approval to expand its operations, he said.
| Year | Destination | Benefits | Value | Disclosed? |
| 2016 | India (via Turkey) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round-trip flight from New York to India | $12,000 | No |
| 2017 | France, Turkey, and China | Free business class tickets for three on round trip from New York to France, Turkey, and China; heavily discounted stay in Bentley Suite of St. Regis Istanbul | $41,000+ | No |
| 2017 | China (via Turkey) | Free business class tickets for two on round trip from New York to China | $16,000+ | No |
| 2018 | Hungary (via Turkey) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round trip from New York to Hungary | $12,000+ | No |
| 2019 | Turkey | Free upgrade to business class for one on flight from New York to Turkey; free stay at Cosmopolitan Suite of St. Regis Istanbul; free meals, transportation, and entertainment in Istanbul | $9,000+ | No |
| 2021 | Turkey (solicited and accepted but then canceled) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round trip from New York to Turkey; free or steeply discounted luxury hotel and resort stays, transportation, entertainment, and meals | $21,000+ | No |
| 2021 | Ghana (via Turkey) | Free upgrade to business class for two on round trip from New York to Ghana; free meal and transportation during Istanbul layover | $12,000+ | No |
David and Philip Banks, Pearson and Wright have had their phones and electronics seized by the feds, who are probing whether they’ve had any hand in steering city contracts to benefit themselves or family members, sources have told The Post.
None have been accused of wrongdoing.
One Adams insider said the Turkish probe, which involves free travel and campaign donations, “stems in part from poor management decisions,” including assigning unqualified people to jobs that require “not only ethical scrupulousness, but extreme attention to detail.”
Particularly concerning was the choice to tap Briana Suggs, Adams’ former intern with close ties to his inner circle, to serve as key consultant and fundraiser for his 2021 mayoral campaign.
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“I don’t think they were aware enough about the strict laws surrounding campaign finance, especially when it comes to foreign nationals, and they prioritized raising money over making sure that it was all above board,” the insider said.
Adams, 64, started as a transit cop and rose through the ranks of the NYPD to the state Senate, to Brooklyn borough president, to City Hall. He made history this week as the first sitting mayor to be criminally indicted.
Adams’ own ability to escape ethical quagmires throughout his time as a cop and his political career may have finally caught up to him once he arrived at City Hall, according to Democratic sources.
“As his circle has grown . . . as his power has grown, his headcount has grown, the corruption has gotten worse,” a Democratic councilmember said.
During his time in Albany from 2007 to 2013, Adams was accused by the state inspector general in 2010 of accepting sizable 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 beep in 2013, the city Department of Investigation found a fundraising nonprofit he created to finance his office’s pet projects, One Brooklyn, violated city rules.
“He came within an inch of being indicted multiple times and has seemingly gotten away with it, so clearly he felt he could continue to get away with it,” one veteran Democratic insider said. “But you can’t outrun the Southern District of New York.”