Federal agents raided the NYPD’s School Safety Division headquarters in Queens Thursday as part of a probe into city contracts, sources said.
The raids are the latest to target Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and appear linked to an investigation into Tim Pearson, a former senior aide and one of Hizzoner’s longtime friends under scrutiny for allegedly picking contractors in exchange for kickbacks.
Agents hit the HQ at Queens Plaza North in Long Island City Thursday afternoon and seized papers and records tied to a “panic button” app contract allegedly greenlit by Pearson, according to the sources.
Kevin Taylor, the up-and-coming former head of school safety agents, also had his phone taken by the feds, according to sources. Pearson had urged Taylor to have safety agents install the app on their phones, and he’s believed to be strictly a witness in a larger case against the mayor’s friend, sources said.
Terence Banks, the brother of outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks, is also connected to the investigation behind the raids, sources said.
The feds are looking into how Saferwatch, a tech firm that sold the app for schools to use in active shooter emergencies and was one of Terence Banks’ clients, had scored high-level meetings with the chancellor, source said. Pearson allegedly later greenlit the contract.
Taylor had taken a prominent role in the school safety division, but transferred out earlier this year. He couldn’t be reached for comment as his phone is apparently in the feds’ hands.
The raids were jointly carried out by investigators with the federal Southern District of New York and the city’s Department of Investigation, sources said.
Officials with the SDNY and DOI both declined to comment.
The expanded investigation adds to Pearson’s many troubles, and creates further headaches for Adams, who is under federal indictment and has watched his inner circle winnowed after a spate of raids seemingly unconnected to his bribery and corruption case.
Pearson resigned last week under a cloud of suspicion after the feds took his phone Sept. 4.
Follow the latest on the FBI raids of Adams administration officials
The retired NYPD inspector had been given a plum, tailor-made job by Adams overseeing, among other things, security deals for migrant shelters.
But Pearson’s tenure was rocked by controversies, including four sexual harassment lawsuits and conflict of interest accusations, even before the raid.
One lawsuit contended Pearson told workers in the obscure city unit he ran, the Municipal Services Assessment, that he was on the prowl for graft.
“People are doing very well on these contracts,” Pearson said, according to the lawsuit.
“I have to get mine. Where are my crumbs?”
The feds have since questioned cops in the unit about city contracting, sources have said.
Terence Banks, a former MTA official turned consultant, also had his phones seized Sept. 4.
Investigators have been looking into Banks’ consulting firm, Pearl Alliance, which had at least one client score a coveted sit down with David Banks, the now-outgoing schools chief. The firm had inked millions of dollars’ worth of public deals, sources have said.
David and Terence Banks’ brother Phil Banks, another Adams friend who recently resigned as deputy mayor for public safety, also had his phone seized by feds during the September raids. The feds are eyeing whether he steered city contracts toward companies repped by Terence Banks’ consulting firm.
Pearson’s lawyer declined to comment, while Terence Banks’ attorney didn’t return a call.
Saferwatch representatives didn’t return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore, Joe Marino and Ben Kochman