Eric Adams is facing a raft of felony charges as the first-ever federal indictment against a sitting New York City mayor was unsealed Thursday. The flamboyant Adams, a former NYPD captain who liked to boast that his ascendance to City Hall brought a sense of “swagger” back to Gotham, was hit with five counts including wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy, and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. He was tripped up, in large part, by his taste for the finer things in life, according to the 57-page indictment.
Prosecutors say Adams, who vehemently denies the charges , has been on the take since at least 2014, when he was elected Brooklyn Borough president. Since then, the indictment alleges, Adams has continued to seek out, and happily accept, “improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.” “As Adams’ prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor,” the indictment states.
In one particularly egregious episode, prosecutors say Adams turned the screws on New York City Fire Department officials to approve an occupancy permit for a newly constructed Turkish consular building in Manhattan the FDNY did not believe was safe. In all, the indictment says Ada.