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☆ Adams vs. Adams: A Power Struggle in New York City Turns Ugly
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Amid growing public dissatisfaction with Mayor Eric Adams’s job performance, the New York City Council speaker, Adrienne Adams, was about to make a power play. Ms. Adams was preparing to introduce legislation on Thursday that would require the mayor to obtain Council approval on 21 commissioner-level appointments, according to a draft of the bill that the speaker’s office shared with The New York Times. The move would significantly curtail the mayor’s authority by adding a level of Council oversight. It would require a citywide voter referendum, because it proposes to curb the power of the mayor. Only one member was named; other names, the release said, would be forthcoming.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adrienne Adams, Adams Organizations: New, New York City Council, The New York Times, Times, Commission Locations: New York City

An aide to Mayor Eric Adams who served as his longtime liaison to the Turkish community and whose home was searched by the F.B.I. has been cooperating with the corruption investigation into the mayor and his 2021 campaign, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Originally from Azerbaijan, Ms. Abbasova, 41, had worked for Mr. Adams for about four years in the Brooklyn borough president’s office before he became mayor. agents and federal prosecutors conducting the corruption investigation in the weeks after her home was searched on Nov. 2. On the same day, agents also searched the homes of the mayor’s chief fund-raiser and a former Turkish Airlines executive.

Persons: Eric Adams, Rana Abbasova, Adams’s, Adams, Abbasova Organizations: —, Fire Department, International Affairs, Mr, Turkish Airlines Locations: Turkish, New York, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Brooklyn

☆ In Rome, Adams Sees a Model for Helping Migrants Assimilate
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Jeffery C. Mays | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It didn’t take long for Mayor Eric Adams of New York to articulate what he liked about a welcome center for migrants and asylum seekers that he visited on Sunday in Rocca di Papa, a town about 15 miles outside Rome. “In two months they’re going from migrant to participating in society,” Mr. Adams said after a 30-minute tour of the center, where migrants from countries including Syria and Sudan are processed, take Italian lessons and receive health care before being sent out for job opportunities. The mayor, who has called on the federal government to expedite work permits and relocation assistance for migrants, repeated that appeal after visiting the center, which is run by the Red Cross and receives funding from the Italian government. He said he wanted help from the Biden administration to develop something similar in New York, where more than 190,000 migrants have arrived over the last two years. Mr. Adams’s visit came on the last day of a three-day trip to Rome, where he met Pope Francis at the Vatican and spoke at an international conference on peace.

Persons: Eric Adams, Rocca, “, ” Mr, Adams, Biden, Adams’s, Pope Francis Locations: New York, Rocca di, Rome, Syria, Sudan, Israel

☆ Second Democrat Emerges to Challenge Mayor Adams’s Path to Re-election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Jeffery C. Mays | Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Zellnor Myrie, an Afro-Latino state senator from Brooklyn known for backing progressive causes, announced on Wednesday that he is moving to challenge Mayor Eric Adams in next year’s Democratic primary in New York City. Mr. Myrie’s announcement is further indication that Mr. Adams’s path to re-election is expected to be more challenging than is typical for Democratic mayors in New York. Mr. Adams, who faces record low poll numbers and a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising, now must contend with at least two challenges from his own party. “For too many New Yorkers that I speak to, they’re tired of the showmanship,” he said. They want to see their government working relentlessly to make this city affordable, to make this city safe, to make it livable.”

Persons: Zellnor Myrie, Eric Adams, Adams, Myrie, ”, they’re Organizations: Democratic Locations: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, “, Yorkers

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ The Encounter That Put the Pianist Kelly Moran on an Unexpected Path
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Grayson Haver Currin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As spring 2022 bloomed, Irena Wang emailed the pianist Kelly Moran to ask for a mixtape. They had briefly met just days before — at the funeral of Wang’s partner of seven years and Moran’s high-school sweetheart in the little Long Island town where they grew up. “He was my first love, my first heartbreak, my first everything,” Moran remembered one evening after dark in Yamaha’s sprawling Midtown Manhattan piano studio in early February, a week before she turned 36. After the funeral, Wang sent her an email: “I really want to know you, but I need some time. Late last year, they moved in together; with Luka, Wang and Damian’s son, the members of this unorthodox trio have empowered one another past the shadow of grief.

Persons: Irena Wang, Kelly Moran, “, ” Moran, ”, Damian, Moran, Wang, John Adams’s “, —, Luka Organizations: — Locations: Midtown Manhattan, Los Angeles, Big

☆ A New Plan to Hire Thousands of Workers to Help N.Y.C. Families in Need
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Jeffery C. Mays | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

New York City is the nation’s largest municipal employer, but has struggled recently to recruit and retain employees. As of September 2023, there were over 20,000 vacant municipal jobs, according to Council data. City officials say they have recently hired 1,000 workers and reduced the delays in processing benefits. “This does not have to be our reality.”How the Plan Would Work: Partly by hiring CUNY students and seasonal workers. The second part of the effort would connect workers who are typically underemployed, including young people and asylum seekers, with seasonal city jobs such as cleanup crews or internships in various industries.

Persons: Ms, Adams, Henry Garrido, Eric Adams’s Organizations: CUNY, District, City University of New Locations: York, New York City, City University of New York, New York

☆ Opinion | From ‘Dune’ to Decadence (and Back)
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are three great novels that I read as an early adolescent that I would take to a desert island if I ever needed to be set up for decades of rereading: The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Watership Down” and “Dune.” I’ve written more in the past on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work and even on Richard Adams’s great rabbit epic than on Frank Herbert’s magnum opus. So I can’t let the occasion of “Dune: Part Two” and its imperial command of the box office pass without some kind of comment. The first is about the story’s contemporary resonance. What’s getting less attention, and what I want to highlight, is the larger civilizational dynamic that the book sets up, and how it speaks to our own moment.

Persons: Richard Adams’s, Frank Herbert’s, Denis Villeneuve’s, What’s

☆ Love or Hate Valentine’s Day?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Esther Zuckerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

He leaps to her defense in a hairy situation with an agitated traveler, and then they flirt over cocktails. It’s a reminder never to trust that cute stranger, because there just might be menace behind those ocean eyes. ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ (1997) Stream it on Netflix. Hogan’s “My Best Friend’s Wedding” has a reputation as one of the great 1990s romantic comedies, but it’s far nastier than its brethren. After all, it’s less about its protagonist trying to find love than it is about her on a mission to ruin lives.

Persons: ‘ Midsommar ’, Max, Ari Aster’s, Dani, Florence Pugh, Christian, Jack Reynor, we’ve, Wes Craven’s, Rachel McAdams’s Lisa Reisert, Cillian Murphy’s Jackson Rippner, Jackson, P.J, Hogan’s, Don’t, Julia Roberts, Julianne Potter, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Julianne, Hogan, ’, Ruben Ostlund’s, Tomas, Johannes Kuhnke, Ebba, Lisa Loven Kongsli, gaslit Organizations: Paramount, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Force Locations: Valentine’s, Swedish, French

☆ 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

☆ With Adams Vulnerable, Scott Stringer Explores Run for N.Y.C. Mayor
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | More About Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Adams rolled back some of the most unpopular cuts to the city budget, but the updated spending plan he released on Tuesday still promised another year of hard fiscal choices. Mr. Adams has not been accused of wrongdoing, but the seizure of his electronic devices last year suggests a serious investigation that could result in charges against close allies, or even the mayor himself. In the interview, Mr. Stringer said Mr. Adams deserved the benefit of the doubt around the federal investigation. “It’s become clear to me over the last two years that New York City needs a new direction,” Mr. Stringer said. “We cannot move the city forward with what is a minimalist agenda.”He conceded that the flow of migrants had created a substantial financial burden for the city.

Persons: Adams, Stringer, It’s, ” Mr, “, ” Organizations: New Locations: Turkey, New York City

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

☆ Opinion: Elon Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and insulting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Opinion Jill Filipovic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Elon Musk is trying to make amends, or at least do damage control, after endorsing an antisemitic post on his platform X, formerly Twitter. The backlash to Musk’s comments on X was swift: Advertisers pulled their campaigns from X, and Musk came under international criticism. Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and frankly insulting. A chat with Musk and a personal tour of Hamas’ devastation seems like it could have waited. Earlier this year, the ADL published a report documenting an increase in antisemitic content on X under Musk’s ownership.

Persons: Jill Filipovic, CNN — Elon Musk, isn’t, “, ‘ Hitler, ”, I’m, Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, X, ” X, White, Jonathan Greenblatt, Greenblatt, ” Musk, George Soros, Soros, Dilbert, Scott Adams, tweeting Organizations: Twitter, CNN, Musk, Defamation League, Israeli, Hamas, Islamic State, Center, Media, ADL Locations: New York, Israel, Buffalo, Gaza, Europe, Hungarian

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

☆ Eric Adams Says ‘We Don’t Do Quid Pro Quo’ for Contributions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( James Fanelli | Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Eric Adams’s electronic devices were seized last week by federal investigators. Photo: angela weiss/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesNew York City Mayor Eric Adams said he and his aides haven’t exchanged political favors for campaign contributions, offering a broad defense of his conduct in office amid a federal public-corruption probe. Adams, a former police captain, during a press conference Tuesday sought to shift focus from the investigation, in which federal officials are examining whether Turkish money illegally went to the Democrat’s 2021 campaign, people familiar with the matter said.

Persons: Eric, angela weiss, Eric Adams, haven’t, Adams Organizations: Agence France, York City Locations: York

☆ Eric Adams’s Turkey Ties: Travel, Donations and a Meeting With Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | More About Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A major federal corruption investigation into Mayor Eric Adams’s fund-raising is examining whether his campaign conspired with members of the Turkish government to receive illegal donations. Mr. Adams, a Democrat in his second year in office, has longstanding ties to Turkey. The mayor has said that he met the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he was Brooklyn borough president, and that he has visited the country at least six times. Federal authorities raided the home of Mr. Adams’s chief fund-raiser on Nov. 2, and then seized at least two cellphones and an iPad from Mr. Adams himself. Mr. Adams has defended his links to Turkey, arguing that they were part of his outreach to immigrant communities that have not always received attention from City Hall.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adams, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Adams’s Organizations: Democrat, Turkish, Federal, City Hall Locations: Turkey, Turkish, Brooklyn, Manhattan

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

☆ FBI Seized New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s Electronic Devices in Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( James Fanelli | Erin Ailworth | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New York City Mayor Eric Adams says, ‘I have nothing to hide.’ Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesFederal Bureau of Investigation agents seized New York City Mayor Eric Adams ’s cellphones and iPad earlier this week as a part of a public corruption probe into his political campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. In a statement Friday, a lawyer for the campaign said Adams’ devices were taken from him after he attended an event on Monday night.

Persons: Eric Adams, ‘, Michael M, Eric Adams ’, Adams Organizations: York City, Getty, Federal, of, New, New York City Locations: York, New York

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

It is a type of scheme that took down New York’s lieutenant governor last year, and sank the 2013 mayoral campaign of a top Democratic contender: the use of so-called straw donors to funnel illegal contributions to candidates from secret sources. Now, for the second time, the campaign of Mayor Eric Adams is being scrutinized for the same thing. And in July, six men were indicted in Manhattan in connection with a similar scheme, accused of funneling thousands to Mr. Adams’s campaign. Neither Mr. Adams nor Ms. Suggs have been accused of wrongdoing, and Mr. Adams has denied any knowledge of illegal contributions. But both investigations appear to be focused on whether donors who were eager to get Mr. Adams’s attention sought to mask large donations by funneling them through straw donors — and on who might have coordinated that effort.

Persons: Eric Adams, Brianna Suggs, Adams’s, Adams, Suggs Locations: Turkish, U.S, Manhattan

☆ Opinion | New York City Is Getting Tired of Mayor Adams’s Scandals
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Mara Gay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The city, home to large Jewish and Muslim communities, is reeling from the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. That’s the very issue that led Mr. Adams to visit the nation’s capital on Thursday to seek federal help. Thanks to the city’s continuing housing crisis, more than 119,320 students enrolled in New York’s public schools are homeless, according to new data released this week. Mr. Adams is working on all of these issues. Eric Ulrich, Mr. Adams’s former building commissioner and a former campaign adviser, was indicted on bribery charges in September.

Persons: Adams, Suggs, Eric Ulrich, Mr, Alvin Bragg, — Organizations: New Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian American, Manhattan

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