Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order Thursday, shifting succession rules of his administration, and establishing a new system of operation in the case that he and his deputy mayor were not able to serve out their terms.
The new order, which was first reported by City & State, followed on the heels of Adams’ historic indictment on fraud, conspiracy, and bribery charges relating to his campaign. Since the indictment, there have been multiple calls for him to resign amid the ongoing investigations, which also involve many other officials in his administration. Prior to the charges, several officials announced their resignation following a series of phone seizures and ongoing probes into corruption.
On Thursday, hours after Adams’ indictment, another official became entangled in a legal matter as New York City investigators searched Sheriff Anthony Miranda’s Queens office after receiving a report about unvouchered cash, according to the city Department of Investigation. The probe was reportedly due to multiple complaints being filed with the DOI about improper cash seizures from smoke shops during the city’s “Operation Padlock.”
A City Hall spokesperson reported to Gothamist that Miranda alerted the Department of Finance, which alerted the DOI to cash from crackdowns that had not been properly registered. Politico was first to report the search, but DOI publicly acknowledged the probe on Friday.
According to testimony before the City Council last week, multiple complaints have been filed with DOI about improper cash seizures during “Operation Padlock.” While Miranda alleged to councilmembers that he was unaware of how much cash had been seized from cannabis stores, asserting the NYPD should be taking any seized cash, lawyers for cannabis stores said the NYPD designated the sheriff’s office as responsible for the money.
Miranda is reportedly being investigated in a pay-to-play scheme, and is also locked in an argument with union leaders over staffing in the sheriff’s office. This investigation raises the possibility of another potential criminal probe into an appointee of Adams’ administration.
Adams defended Miranda after last week’s Council meeting, saying, “Yes, I have confidence. He’s doing the job that New York is asking him to do.”
Yet, union leaders have questioned Miranda’s claim to suddenly finding and investigating improperly seized cash a week after questions from councilmembers emerged.
Meanwhile, Adams’ quietly-issued order has expanded the power of Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom in the event that First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright vacates or is unable to do her job. In a phone interview with Gothamist, Williams-Isom, who directed much of the city’s work on the influx of migrants, said she had already been informally assigned to assume the duties of mayor in the event Adams and Wright were both out of town or indisposed, describing the change as “pro forma.”
“Legally, it was supposed to be in an executive order,” she said.
This formally-issued move may indicate a sense of pressure the administration feels to establish a clear pattern of transition amid the continuous legal and political troubles of Adams and associated high-ranking officials. It could also signal the unstated expectation of Adams’ possible arrest.
Wright, the first deputy mayor, has faced increasing scrutiny since earlier this month, when she was one of the key administration officials who had their phones seized by federal agents. Wright’s partner and Schools Chancellor, David Banks, announced Tuesday that he would retire at the end of the calendar year (halfway through the school year) following an investigation into alleged bribery committed by him and his brothers, Terence and Phillip Banks.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove the mayor, has not yet called for Adams to resign. However, in a statement on Thursday, she said Adams needed “to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders.”
On Friday, Adams pleaded not guilty to the charges.
