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☆ Mayor Adams to Meet With Pope Francis in Rome
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | William K. Rashbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mayor Eric Adams will travel to Rome on Thursday to meet with Pope Francis, becoming the latest in a recent succession of New York City mayors to pay respects to the leader of the Catholic Church. The trip comes as Mr. Adams, a moderate Democrat facing languishing poll numbers and a federal criminal investigation, prepares to run for re-election next year in what is expected to be a contested primary. A spokesman for the mayor had no immediate comment when asked about the trip; roughly an hour later, the mayor’s press office released an advisory that Mr. Adams would be in Rome later this week. The advisory mentions “travel to the Vatican City,” but did not specify if he would meet with the pope. But three sources familiar with Mr. Adams’s itinerary confirmed that he would see Pope Francis.

Persons: Eric Adams, Pope Francis, Adams, Frank Carone Organizations: Catholic Church Locations: Rome, New York City, Vatican City, ”

Federal authorities investigating Mayor Eric Adams’s campaign fund-raising have been examining valuable flight upgrades they believe he received from Turkish Airlines that elevated him to its highest class of seats available on international trips, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The scrutiny is part of a broad corruption inquiry that has already led the F.B.I. to search the homes of the former top New York-based executive of Turkish Airlines and aides to Mr. Adams, who has frequently traveled abroad and has made no secret of his affinity for flying on the Turkish carrier. agents searched the homes of the former airline executive, Cenk Öcal, the mayor’s liaison to the Turkish community, Rana Abbasova, and his chief fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs — and seized Mr. Adams’s electronic devices. The inquiry has shaken an administration that has become increasingly mired in investigations and beset by legal and ethical problems.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adams, Cenk Öcal, Rana Abbasova, Brianna Suggs — Organizations: Turkish Airlines Locations: New York

☆ N.Y.P.D. Officials Deploy Aggressive Use of Force (on Social Media)
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Maria Cramer | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A newspaper columnist was accused of being “deceitful.” A lawyer and political activist was challenged to show her face at the funeral of a fallen officer. And a city councilwoman became the target of an apparent “vote her out” campaign. The combative comments — all posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — were nothing new for a site that has become synonymous with personal attacks and insults. What was unusual was the source: executives from the New York Police Department. “The defund crowd who will cry ‘boo hoo’ to 9-1-1 when they need us,” John Chell, the chief of patrol, wrote on X on March 31, complaining about a critical column written by Harry Siegel of The Daily News.

Persons: ”, councilwoman, ” John Chell, Harry Siegel, Eric Adams, — Organizations: Twitter, New York Police Department, The Daily News, Police Department

☆ Hochul Orders M.T.A. to Stop Pressuring Marathon to Pay for Lost Tolls
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | More About Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kathy Hochul on Thursday said that she had ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to drop its effort to charge the New York City Marathon roughly $750,000 for its use of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. “The marathon is an iconic symbol of New York City’s tenacity and resilience that unites communities across the five boroughs each fall,” she said in a statement. “I’ve directed the M.T.A. The bridge connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. Since 1988, the marathon has used both the bridge’s upper and lower decks.

Persons: Kathy Hochul, ”, “ I’ve Organizations: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Marathon, New York Times Locations: York, Brooklyn, Staten Island

☆ Mayor Eric Adams Grapples With Two Shocking Acts of Violence
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In one evening, barely an hour apart, Mayor Eric Adams was confronted with two tragic events that crystallized some people’s persistent fears about New York City. In recent months, he has repeatedly embraced a slogan — “Crime is down, jobs are up” — to drive both points home. But the violence on Monday undercut the argument that the city is becoming less dangerous and raised questions about whether Mr. Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have done enough to address gun violence and safety on the subway. Mr. Adams recently increased police patrols on the subway, and Ms. Hochul ordered the National Guard and the State Police into the transit system.

Persons: Eric Adams, Jonathan Diller, Adams’s, Adams, Kathy Hochul, Hochul Organizations: Adams’s mayoralty, Gov, National Guard, State Police Locations: New York City, Queens, Manhattan

☆ Is New York Better Off Than It Was 7 Years Ago? New Yorkers Say No.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the South Fordham section of the Bronx, residents give their neighborhood a Bronx cheer. In Park Slope in Brooklyn — known and parodied for its self-consciously liberal politics and wealth — residents are much happier. But if there’s one thing that New Yorkers can agree upon, it’s that the quality of life in New York City has suffered. Less than a third rate the city’s quality of life as excellent or good. Less than a quarter are content with the overall quality of government services.

Organizations: New Locations: Fordham, Bronx, Slope, Brooklyn, New York City

A Chinese business titan pleaded guilty on Monday to federal charges that he made more than $10,000 in straw donor contributions to political candidates — including, a person familiar with the case said, to a New York congressman and Mayor Eric Adams. Hui Qin, 56, of Old Westbury, N.Y., who was once listed on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, ran a now-defunct entertainment business called SMI Culture. Image Hui Qin Credit... ImaginechinaMr. Qin asked others to contribute to political campaigns of his choosing, and he agreed to reimburse them, in 2021 and 2022, according to prosecutors. The other figures who received donations were Representative Andrew Garbarino of Long Island and Allan Fung, a former mayor of Cranston, R.I., who ran for Congress, the person familiar with the case said. Both are Republicans, while Mr. Adams is a Democrat.

Persons: Eric Adams, Hui Qin, Imaginechina Mr, Qin, Andrew Garbarino, Allan Fung, Adams Organizations: Forbes, Congress Locations: New York, Old Westbury, N.Y, Manhattan, Qin, Long, Cranston, R.I

☆ Eric Adams Wants to Deport Migrants Who Are Accused of Serious Crimes
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | Jeffery C. Mays | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For years, New York City leaders have relished the status of being a so-called sanctuary city, where local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials is limited. On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams made it clear that his views were different. If he had his way, he said he would permit law enforcement in New York City to work openly with immigration authorities to more readily deport migrants who were suspected — not necessarily convicted — of serious crimes. “I don’t subscribe to that theory.”A reporter asked Mr. Adams, a first-term Democrat, about due process. “They didn’t give due process to the person that they shot or punched or killed,” the mayor countered.

Persons: Eric Adams, “, ”, Mr, Adams, “ There’s Locations: New York, New York City

Jeenah Moon for The New York TimesIn a tidy suburban apartment complex on Long Island, a Venezuelan mother of two surveyed her new home and declared herself blessed. Sury Saray Espine and her family had spent 13 months in a homeless shelter in New York City. Now, in early February, they were moving into a one-bedroom in Central Islip with a galley kitchen and access to a swimming pool. Best of all, the state would pay their rent for a year, through a resettlement program designed to house 1,250 migrant families at a fraction of the cost of keeping them in New York City’s overflowing shelters. The family’s experience, however, has been an anomaly.

Persons: Sury Saray Espine Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Long, Venezuelan, New York City, Central Islip, New York

☆ N.Y.P.D. Drones Carrying Rafts Could Join Lifeguards in Beach Rescues
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | Corey Kilgannon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This summer, struggling swimmers off Coney Island might be met not just by a young lifeguard in an orange suit but also by assistance from above, in the form of a buglike device delivering an inflatable float. The raft-bearing drone is the latest in a series of gadgets promoted by Mayor Eric Adams as a way to improve life in New York City. Discussing the drone during his weekly question-and-answer session at City Hall on Tuesday, the mayor said it would begin flying as part of a pilot project to address a chronic summer problem. “They’re going to start out with Coney Island, and they’re going to grow from there,” Mr. Adams said, referring to the entertainment mecca on Brooklyn’s south shore. “I think it can be a great addition to saving the lives of those that we lose over the summer.”New York City may be known for its concrete-and-steel canyons, but it boasts 14 miles of city beaches, from Coney Island in Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach in Queens to Orchard Beach in the Bronx and South Beach in Staten Island.

Persons: Eric Adams, “ They’re, ” Mr, Adams Organizations: City, ” Locations: Coney, New York City, York, Coney Island, Brooklyn, Rockaway, Queens, Orchard Beach, Bronx, South Beach, Staten Island

☆ Ex-N.Y.P.D. Official Admits Funneling Illegal Donations to Eric Adams
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Montgomery was indicted in July by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, accused of a scheme to funnel campaign contributions to the mayor and to conceal the source of donations. In his plea Monday, Mr. Montgomery, 64, agreed not to organize or host any fund-raisers or solicit contributions for a campaign for one year. In return, the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, said that he would recommend that Mr. Montgomery complete 200 hours of community service and pay a $500 fine. The mayor was not implicated in the indictment and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. When the charges became public, his campaign spokesman, Evan Thies, thanked Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors for “their hard work on behalf of taxpayers.”

Persons: Dwayne Montgomery, Eric Adams, Montgomery, Alvin L, Bragg, Evan Thies, Mr, ” Locations: Manhattan

☆ Goodbye for Now to the Robot That (Sort Of) Patrolled New York’s Subway
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | Hurubie Meko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The New York Police Department robot sat motionless like a sad Wall-E on Friday morning, gathering dust inside an empty storefront within New York City’s busiest subway station. No longer were its cameras scanning straphangers traversing Times Square. No longer were subway riders pressing its help button, if ever they had. New York City has retired the robot, known as the Knightscope K5, from service inside the Times Square station. “The K5 Knightscope has completed its pilot in the NYC subway system,” a spokesman for the department said in an email.

Persons: straphangers Organizations: New York Police Department, York City, Times, The Police Department Locations: New York, York, NYC

☆ Mayor Adams Is Braced for Defeat on 2 Criminal Justice Bills
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The New York City Council is expected to override Mayor Eric Adams’s veto of two criminal justice bills on Tuesday, delivering what would be a major defeat to Mr. Adams and his administration’s emphasis on strengthening law enforcement efforts. The bills, which would force police officers to document more of their interactions with the public and would end solitary confinement in city jails, have opened a bitter rift between Mr. Adams and Democratic leaders in the City Council. Mr. Adams, a Democrat who ran for office on a public safety message, has warned that the bills would make the city and its jails more dangerous. He vowed to fight the override until the last moment and encouraged moderate council members to support him. “Crime is down, and New York remains the safest big city in America,” Mr. Adams said in a statement, adding that the bill to document police stops would “undermine that progress and make our city less safe.”

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adams, ” Mr Organizations: New, Democratic, City Council, Democrat Locations: New York, City, America

Mayor Eric Adams raised $732,000 in less than two months to pay for legal expenses related to a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising, according to a filing submitted Tuesday. The contributors to Mr. Adams’s defense fund include an array of wealthy players in business and politics, among them at least four who have been described as billionaires: the former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Ukrainian-British oligarch Leonard Blavatnik, the real estate and fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt and the cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce. The fund has so far spent $440,000, most of it on WilmerHale, the law firm Mr. Adams hired to represent him in the investigation, the filing shows. City law permits elected officials to set up defense funds to pay for expenses related to criminal or civil investigations that are unrelated to their government duties and cannot be paid for with public money. The funds can collect up to $5,000 per donor but are not permitted to solicit or receive contributions from anyone with city contracts or business before the city.

Persons: Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg, Leonard Blavatnik, Alexander Rovt, Brock Pierce, Adams Organizations: New, New York City Locations: New York, Ukrainian, British

Mayor Eric Adams of New York said on Tuesday that the 25-year-old woman he had chosen to manage his political fund-raising was no longer working in that role, weeks after a search of her home by the F.B.I. revealed a federal investigation into his campaign and plunged his administration into turmoil. The announcement by Mr. Adams was something of a reversal: He had previously said he had “full confidence” in the fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, adding that she was qualified for the job and that he would love for her to remain on his team. At his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Adams declined to explain the reasons for the change, saying as he often does that he would not discuss private conversations. “She is no longer doing fund-raising for the campaign,” Mr. Adams said, in response to a question from a reporter.

Persons: Eric Adams, Adams, Brianna Suggs, ” Mr Locations: New York

The coordinated raids were the first public sign of a broad corruption investigation into the mayor’s 2021 campaign. and federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining whether the Turkish government conspired with Mr. Adams’s campaign to funnel foreign donations into campaign coffers and whether Mr. Adams pressured Fire Department officials to sign off on a new high-rise Turkish consulate despite safety concerns. Both Ms. Abbasova and Mr. Öcal have ties to Turkey. She was Mr. Adams’s longtime liaison to the Turkish community when he served as Brooklyn borough president; he was the general manager of the New York office of Turkish Airlines until early last year. Ms. Abbasova, Mr. Öcal, Ms. Suggs and Mr. Adams have not been accused of wrongdoing.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Rana Abbasova, Cenk, Adams, Abbasova, Öcal, Adams’s, Suggs Organizations: Turkish Airlines, Fire Department, New Locations: Turkey, New Jersey, Manhattan, Turkish, Brooklyn, New York

After federal authorities raided the home of Mayor Eric Adams’s chief fund-raiser on Nov. 2, a broad criminal inquiry into the fund-raising practices of Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign spilled into public view. Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are examining whether the campaign conspired with members of the Turkish government, including its consulate in New York, to receive illegal donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York Times. Here’s what we know about the investigation. The full scope of the federal criminal inquiry is not yet clear, but the investigation has focused at least in part on whether Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government and Turkish nationals to receive illegal donations.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adams’s, Adams Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Turkish, New York

Mr. Adams already had a long-running relationship with the Turkish consulate general, which paid for part of his trip to Turkey while he was Brooklyn borough president in 2015, according to a public filing. The warrant to search the home of Mr. Adams’s 25-year-old fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, indicated that the investigation was examining the role of KSK Construction, a Brooklyn building company owned by Turkish immigrants that organized a fund-raising event for Mr. Adams on May 7, 2021. On that day, 48 donors, including the company’s owners, employees and their families, along with others in the construction and real estate industries, donated $43,600, Mr. Adams’s campaign reports show. Mr. Adams’s campaign filings do not specify which donations were made through the fund-raising event. Neither Mr. Adams nor his campaign has been accused of wrongdoing, and no charges are publicly known to have been filed in connection with the investigation.

Persons: Adams, York City’s, Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Suggs Organizations: Fire Department, Mr, Democratic Locations: Brooklyn, Manhattan, York, Turkish, Turkey

The agents approached the mayor on the street and asked his security detail to step away, one of the people said. with him and, pursuant to a court-authorized warrant, took his devices, the person said. Law enforcement investigators with a search warrant can make copies of the data on devices after they seize them. It was not immediately clear whether the agents referred to the fund-raising investigation when they took the mayor’s devices. The surprise seizure of Mr. Adams’s devices was an extraordinary development and appeared to be the first direct instance of the campaign contribution investigation touching the mayor.

Persons: Eric, Adams Locations: Turkish

The choice was unconventional: Eric Adams, the candidate who would go on to win the 2021 election for mayor of the nation’s financial capital, had picked an inexperienced 23-year-old to run his campaign’s fund-raising operation. Ostensibly, the fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, did her job. Thanks in part to her work, the campaign would spend more than $18 million and win the election. But the unusual arrangement, which raised eyebrows in the tight-knit, professional world of Democratic political fund-raising, might have come at an extraordinary cost. On Thursday morning, federal agents raided Ms. Suggs’s home in Brooklyn and walked away with a wide range of materials, including three iPhones, two laptop computers and a manila folder labeled “Eric Adams.” The court-authorized search was part of an expansive public corruption investigation into whether the campaign conspired with the government of Turkey to receive illegal foreign donations.

Persons: Eric Adams, Brianna Suggs, Suggs’s, ” Organizations: Democratic Locations: Brooklyn, manila, Turkey

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday searched the Brooklyn home of Mayor Eric Adams’s chief fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, a campaign consultant who is deeply entwined with efforts to advance the mayor’s agenda, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The raid apparently prompted Mr. Adams to abruptly cancel several meetings scheduled for Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., to talk to White House officials and members of Congress about the influx of migrants in New York and other major cities. Instead, he hurriedly returned to New York “to deal with a matter,” a spokesman for the mayor said. Ms. Suggs, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is an essential cog in Mr. Adams’s fund-raising machine, which has already raised more than $2.5 million for his 2025 re-election campaign. A third person with knowledge of the raid said agents from one of the public corruption squads in the F.B.I.’s New York office questioned Ms. Suggs during the search of her home.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Adams, New York “, ”, Suggs, Adams’s, Ms Organizations: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington , D.C, White House Locations: Brooklyn, Washington ,, New York

☆ New York City Loses Contentious Bid for Cricket Stadium to Long Island
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | More About Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A contentious plan backed by Mayor Eric Adams for the International Cricket Council to build a temporary, 34,000-seat stadium in a Bronx park is dead, following heated opposition from local elected officials and some amateur cricket players. The stadium was to host part of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next June. The venue will instead be built in Eisenhower Park in Nassau County on Long Island. The news was confirmed by an Adams administration official and in a draft news release reviewed by The New York Times. It was announced publicly by the International Cricket Council Wednesday morning.

Persons: Eric Adams, Adams Organizations: International Cricket Council, ICC, York, The New York Times, International Cricket, Wednesday Locations: Bronx, Eisenhower Park, Nassau County, Long, City

The mayor’s return to New York City from overseas was plagued by mishap. The chair of his “reception committee” was late; his aides violated the health code by boarding the mayor’s ship, the Vulcania, before the ship could be screened for contagion. And reporters — barred from asking questions on political or administrative matters — had the nerve to question the length of the mayor’s journey, which, in an apparent first for a New York City mayor, included a three-day visit to the new nation of Israel. In the 72 years since Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri’s voyage in 1951, every single New York City mayor would follow his lead, in recognition of a faith-based political reality: New York City is home to the largest population of Jews outside of Israel. Mayor Eric Adams upheld that rite of passage this week, visiting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in a three-day tour highlighted by meetings with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its president, Isaac Herzog.

Persons: ”, —, Vincent R, Eric Adams, Benjamin Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog Organizations: New, New York City, York Locations: New York City, New York, Israel, York City, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

At a Coney Island park this summer, children in a basketball summer camp wore blue-and-white uniforms bearing the logo of “The Coney,” a proposed casino project in the neighborhood and the camp’s sponsor. A few months earlier on Long Island, where Las Vegas Sands is pitching a casino, children from local soccer teams were invited to a Sands-sponsored training session featuring the superstars David Beckham and Carli Lloyd. In the escalating race to be one of the first to open a casino in the New York City area, developers are rushing to win local support after state regulators said projects needed to be “embraced by the community.” A casino logo emblazoned across youth sports jerseys is just one example of the lengths to which gambling operators have gone to woo those communities and secure a coveted license. But their sponsorship of these recent children’s events has proved to be as divisive as the prospect of the casinos themselves.

Persons: ”, David Beckham, Carli Lloyd Organizations: Las Vegas Sands, New Locations: Coney, Long, Las, New York City, ”

A new front opened on Wednesday in an escalating battle among Democrats over how to handle large numbers of immigrants crossing the southern border and moving into major cities. The leaders of New York City and New York State, where officials say the arrival of migrants has set off a humanitarian crisis, seemed to turn on each other this week, after the state sent a scathing letter accusing the city of resisting its help and being slow to act. Kathy Hochul faulted Mayor Eric Adams’s management of New York’s migrant crisis in sharp terms, puncturing the appearance of city-state harmony that the two leaders have spent much of their tenures cultivating. New York City is struggling to accommodate more than 100,000 migrants who have arrived after crossing the border, more than 57,000 of whom remain in city shelters. Mr. Adams has said that the city is running out of space and funds to support them, and has criticized President Biden, saying “the president and the White House have failed New York City on this issue.” His posture has infuriated top Biden aides.

Persons: Kathy Hochul, Eric Adams’s, Adams, Biden Organizations: New Locations: New York City, New York State

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