Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced his pick for the city’s top public safety role left vacant by his scandal-plagued pal Phil Banks — and sources hailed the replacement as a welcome “boring” alternative.
Chauncey Parker, who has worked nearly 40 years in law enforcement, will take over the deputy mayor for public safety post left vacant after Banks resigned under a cloud of federal scrutiny.
The appointment of Parker drew a recently rare show of praise for Adams amid his criminal indictment and corruption probes encircling cronies he installed in high-level roles.
“If the mayor had appointed all these boring people to start maybe he wouldn’t be under indictment,” one Council source quipped to The Post.
Banks was already somewhat infamous when Adams tapped him in 2022 to serve as deputy mayor for public safety — a position that no New York City mayor had used since David Dinkins in the 1990s.
The former NYPD official was an unindicted co-conspirator in a police bribery scandal, which yielded photos of Banks floating in the Dead Sea as evidence in a federal trial.
Banks also needed a special waiver to collect a both his cop pension and the $250,000 salary for the City Hall job.
As deputy mayor, Banks continued to court controversy.
Adams’ first NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell resigned because of frustrations from Banks and his allies meddling with the police department, sources have said.
But Banks’ decades-old friendship with Adams kept him insulated — at least until federal agents knocked on his door Sept. 4 and seized his electronic devices in what sources have said is a corruption investigation.
After weeks of pressure to resign — a span that saw several other top officials ensnared in the feds’ web do so, including Banks’ brother, Schools Chancellor David Banks — Banks finally submitted his walking papers Oct. 6.
The position was one of at least 10 high-level spots in Adams’ administration without a permanent head amid a wave of departures as the feds turned up the heat on City Hall.
But some insiders have wondered whether the Big Apple even needs a deputy mayor for public safety, given the city already has a police commissioner.
“Certainly a job that can be eliminated!” former Councilman Sal Albanese wrote on X. “DM for Public Safety, no real need for it!”
Even with doubts over the need for the role, Parker’s ascension was greeted warmly.
Parker, a Duke University law school grad who served as an executive assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office, among many other roles, had served as Banks’ assistant deputy mayor.
Two sources who worked for years with Parker called him the smartest person in Adams’ administration.
One described Parker as always bringing a brown bag for lunch, even though he comes from money.
“They don’t make public servants like this anymore,” the source said. “He really cares about the community.”
A former top NYPD executive who worked with Parker called him honorable and an excellent choice.
“I would dare anyone to say anything bad about him,” the exec said.
“He worked with Phil Banks and Banks had respect for him. He’s very smart guy very trustworthy. He didn’t get involved with any of the nonsense with Adams and Banks.”
Another Council source called Parker a consummate professional who worked for both Democrats and Republicans.
“He’s one of the good guys,” the source said.
Adams, during his weekly news conference Tuesday, claimed that he fielded nine requests from people outside City Hall to fill Banks’ position.
He said Parker was the best person for the job.
“I’ve taken a different approach of public safety in the city, and we include every aspect of it, and Chauncey has already played a major role in bringing federal, state and local law enforcement entities together,” he said.
Parker also stressed the importance of collaboration.
“In my almost 40 years of working in criminal justice, I think the most important thing I’ve learned is, what is your North Star?” he said. “And that is a power of partnership, how we’re always so much stronger and better when we work together.”
The mayor, however, gave no hints as when he’d tap a permanent NYPD commissioner — an appointment that sources said last week was imminent.
He claimed 22 people have shown interest in the position, and also that stopgap Commissioner Tom Donlon is “full-time” even as he serves on an interim basis.
“When people are in the job, they should do the job, and that is what he’s doing, and that’s what I expect,” Adams said. “And if there’s any changes, we’re going to come to this podium and make an announcement.”