GC Images
It’s been a rough stretch for the allies, advisers and lieutenants of Mayor Eric Adams, who last week became the first New York City mayor in history to be indicted for corruption.
Hizzoner’s woes come amid a series of resignations and departures of administration officials — several of whom have been ensnared in the investigations.
Here’s a list of the now-former officials who have left the Adams administration.
Timothy Pearson
Pearson, a shadowy confidante and one of Adams’ top aides, resigned Monday amid the ever-escalating federal corruption inquiry that’s besieged City Hall.
The retired NYPD inspector oversaw security deals for migrant shelters — and now, the feds are investigating whether he allegedly interfered with picking contractors in exchange for kickbacks.
The accusations dovetail with an account detailed in an April lawsuit, which said Pearson told workers in the Municipal Services Assessment unit that he was looking to line his own pockets.
“People are doing very well on these contracts,” Pearson said, according to the suit. “I have to get mine. Where are my crumbs?”
The feds busted into his home in early September and seized his phones during a sweeping series of raids that targeted several other city officials and Adams allies.
He clung to his position for weeks, but finally announced his exit this week.
Pearson’s last day on the job is Friday.
Edward Caban
Former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban stepped down last month following a federal raid on his home — and intense pressure from City Hall.
The week before he left, the feds seized Caban’s electronic devices as part of what sources said was a corruption probe investigating potential influence peddling.
An NYPD vet of more than three decades, Caban left the top spot about a year after Adams handpicked him to replace outgoing commissioner Keechant Sewell, who left in June 2023.
“I hold immense respect and gratitude for the brave officers who serve this department, and the NYPD deserves someone who can solely focus on protecting and serving New York City, which is why — for the good of this city and this department — I have made the difficult decision to resign as Police Commissioner,” Caban wrote in an email to the force.
Caban — the city’s first Hispanic commissioner — has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
But the feds are also eyeing his twin brother, James, for allegedly working as a “fixer” for swanky Manhattan restaurants and nightclubs who ran into problems with the cops.
David Banks
Embattled city Schools Chancellor David Banks announced last week that he’d be retiring from his post at the end of the year — a decision he apparently made just a few weeks after the feds came calling.
Banks — who married First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright over the weekend — watched as agents busted into his Harlem home Sept. 4 and confiscated both their cellphones.
Afterward, Banks claimed the feds told him he wasn’t a target, and batted away The Post’s questions about whether he’d resign because of it.
But he later said he planned to leave all along.
“During our meeting earlier this year, I advised you that I intend to retire at the end of this calendar year after ensuring the school year got off to a good start,” Banks wrote in his retirement letter.
“I have decided to retire effective December 31, 2024, after dedicating nearly 40 years of service to New York City’s public schools.”
The feds also snatched phones belonging to two of his brothers: Terence Banks, a former MTA official-turned-consultant; and Philip Banks, Adams’ deputy mayor for public safety.
None of the Banks brothers have been charged with a crime.
Lisa Zornberg
Zornberg, City Hall’s chief counsel, departed the administration just days after Caban.
A former senior Manhattan federal prosecutor, she’d served as the city’s lead attorney since July 2023.
But she took off just the feds zeroed in on Adams’ inner circle — a move sources say she made because Adams balked at pushing out allegedly troubled lieutenants Phil Banks, Tim Pearson and Winnie Greco, the city director of Asian affairs.
An exhausted Zornberg had been eyeing an exit from the chaotic and increasingly troubled administration — and decided to resign on Sept. 14, a Saturday night, political sources said.
“I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position,” Zornberg wrote in a resignation letter.
Zornberg doesn’t appear to be entangled in the federal probes, and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Ashwin Vasan
Vasan, the city’s health commissioner, also announced last week that’d be resigning at the end of the year.
He has worked as the Big Apple’s top doctor since March 2022, and doesn’t appear to be tied to any of the federal investigations.
Still, Vasan told the mayor that he’d stay on while Adams searches for a successor.