New York City Mayor Eric Adams is trying to turn a new page after nearly a year of investigations, raids, and resignations have left his office in turmoil.
During a roughly 40-minute press conference centered on touting the New York City’s Mayor’s Management Report, Adams announced his decision to “write our own narrative.”
The mayor’s report is typically a low-profile announcement that has not garnered a press event in recent years. Adams explained Monday why he gathered the media to cover this year’s report.
“We want New Yorkers to know this administration is working hard for them, and we’re producing real results,” he said. “And when things happen to the administration, the real question is, you have the ability to stay focused and provide the services that the city is expecting.”
The mayor’s comments came as the FBI continues to investigate his 2021 mayoral campaign, and a slew of his top affiliates have been scrutinized in corruption investigations.
“It’s intentional to focus on this narrative so I can write my story,” Adams said during blunt remarks to the media. “Oftentimes, history is someone else writing your story. I want to write my own story. And this story is how great we have done.”
A TV screen in the background displayed favorable statistics from the report as Adams attempted to turn the focus from FBI investigations into his inner circle.
“We’re keeping our city safer,” the mayor said as he claimed that the city had experienced “15% few murders” in the past year.
Pointing to the report’s findings that unemployment is down by “nearly 8%,” Adams declared his leadership had led to “significantly improved rates of black and Latino unemployment.”
Adam’s top attorney was the latest member of his inner circle to resign from her position Saturday. Lisa Zornberg served as Adams’s chief City Hall attorney for over a year before vacating the office without explanation over the weekend.
Her resignation marked the second senior member of the Adams administration to step down in three days. Edward Caban, the top New York Police Department police chief who Adams appointed, resigned Thursday. Most recently, two former chiefs from the New York City Fire Department were arrested on alleged corruption charges Monday.
Adams and his top lieutenants have been under a microscope since November 2023. The FBI’s investigation into whether his 2021 mayoral campaign had illegally solicited donations from Turkey became public at the time.
Since then, the FBI has searched the homes and confiscated the cellphones of numerous Adams allies. Over a dozen of the mayor’s associates, including Caban, came under heavy scrutiny during the agency’s largest raid earlier this month.
A key component of the investigation centers on whether Adams pressured the city’s fire department to approve a Turkish high-rise after he allegedly accepted upgrades on Turkish Airlines.
Adams indicated that he’s ready to move on from the negative publicity he’s received over the past year.
“I told the team we have to write our own narrative because if we don’t show the success and we don’t have a person [here] who has benefited from what we’re doing, it just doesn’t seem to get covered,” the embattled mayor said.
Chris Coffey, a Democratic political consultant who worked in former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, told Politico that the mayor’s strategy is, “We’re going to do lots of official shit and look mayoral.”
“Is it going to work?” Coffey questioned. “Probably not. If the worst stuff has happened, then yes, you have a shot at getting through this.”
At least three New York City officials have recently called on Adams to resign amid the FBI’s investigation. Democratic state Sen. Julia Salazar, City Council Member Tiffany Caban, and Democratic state Assembly Member Emily Gallagher urged the mayor to step down in the past week.
“Several FBI investigations and too much harm done to the best city in the world. Time to step aside and allow for new leadership,” Salazar said in a post to X.
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Adams sounded a defiant tone in the face of their calls during the press conference.
“They call for me to leave over and over and over again, but these numbers are showing that I’m working on behalf of New Yorkers,” he said in a reference to his report.
