New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday continued to assure New Yorkers that he is focused on running the city as additional top officials resigned.
New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan decided to step down this week citing personal reasons. After the press conference, Public Schools Chancellor David Banks also said he would retire at the end of the year.
Banks' home, which he shares with his partner First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, was raided earlier this month and their phones were seized by federal agents.
Despite the turmoil, the mayor appeared unfazed at his regular weekly press conference at City Hall.
“Employees and staffers come and go…Very few remain throughout an entire term,” said Adams. “Give it your all, and that's what we have done. Every day, we wake up and we give it our all.”
Top officials who have resigned during Adams' time as mayor include Police Commissioner Edward Caban, Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Department of Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich.
"Okay, let's go back, because I'm really lost when people say the level of people that have left your administration. There is no level of people that have left my administration. The normal turnaround of people leaving administration, three years, we're three years in," he said.
Meanwhile, investigations into other top city officials continued. New York Police Department Commissioner Thomas Donlon was visited by FBI agents regarding documents in his possession from 20 years ago. The documents, which were seized, were not related to the NYPD, according to Donlon.
A Department of Investigations inquiry into New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda is now underway regarding Padlock to Protect, or the raids of illegal cannabis stores. The probe focuses on the way cash from the shops was seized and invoiced, and whether there are any connections between such cash and donations made to the National Latino Officers Association, of which Miranda is the chair.
Adams vocalized confidence in the sheriff.
“This guy has it handled, his team with the NYPD, they have handled over $78 million in illegal cannabis,” said Adams. “I got a lot of confidence in him.”
The mayor echoed a similar sentiment regarding the interim police commissioner.
“He is a great New Yorker,” said Adams. “Let's be clear, from what I read, and of my knowledge, we're talking about something, items from 20 years ago.”
In regards to federal investigations into the mayor’s campaign ties to Turkey, the probe has spread to possible connections involving Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan, stemming from grand jury subpoenas filed by federal prosecutors in July.
Adams said he has only visited Israel and Qatar as mayor and received approval from the Conflicts of Interest Board for the trips.
Meanwhile, the mayor said he is hopeful that the City Planning Commission, which is set to vote on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning plan on Wednesday, will approve the proposal.
The housing plan aims to build anywhere from 58,000 to 109,000 new homes over 15 years through new construction projects, universal affordability preference, residential conversions and more.
“People need housing, and everyone is going to have to, you know, vote with their conscience,” said Adams.
In addition, the mayor said he would like to see emergency medical services response time decline from current levels. According to the mayor’s management report, EMS response times for life-threatening situations climbed higher to about 12 minutes.
“We're looking at how long the release time [is], we're doing some things in the hospital,” said Adams. “It's a very complicated series of things. Everything from the serious congestion that we have in the city…The goal is to bring down the response time.”
