Timothy Pearson, a close aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams who had a broad portfolio that included dealing with contracts for migrant shelters and focusing on public safety, resigned on Monday, according to the New York Times.
He is the fifth senior member of the mayor’s administration to announce his departure in the past three weeks, the paper said.
In the letter, Pearson thanked the mayor and lauded the administration’s accomplishments.
“As I look ahead to the next chapter of my life, I’ve decided to focus on family, self-care and new endeavors,” he wrote.
Pearson, a retired Police Department inspector, was the head of the Mayor’s Office of Municipal Services Assessment, a newly created division by Adams.
He is a defendant in four sexual harassment lawsuits filed by subordinates, and he is the subject of two separate inquiries by the New York City Department of Investigation. He was among the several senior administration officials whose phones were seized by federal investigators on Sept. 4, according to the paper.
The mayor has consistently defended Pearson, arguing that he is an essential element of his administration and deserves due process.
Meanwhile, Antonio Reynoso said he increasingly became uncomfortable with all of the flag raising ceremonies, as well as the gifts he was receiving from foreign consulates once he became Brooklyn Borough President, the paper also reported.
Modest gifts, like a bottle of wine or a bookmark, were common. But then Turkish officials began to increase their generosity, the paper said.
They offered junkets to Turkey and wanted Reynoso to raise their native country’s flag over Brooklyn Borough Hall. Ten gold-plated tea sets arrived as a gift from the Turkish consulate. Reynoso returned them, the paper reported.
Soon after, at the suggestion of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, Reynoso met with FBI officials, who warned him to be wary of officials representing particular foreign countries, including Turkey, the paper said.
