The UWS Weighs In On Mayor Adams’ Indictment

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY – Mayor Eric Adams faces federal charges of bribery, fraud, and illegally soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals, allegations detailed in a 57-page indictment made public on Thursday.

Turkish officials allegedly cultivated Adams for years, according to the indictment, showering him with freebies worth approximately $100,000. These same officials would leverage their relationship with Adams to obtain favorable treatment regarding the opening of a new consulate building in 2021, prosecutors say.

Adams, the first New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime while in office, maintains that he is innocent, and has dismissed a growing chorus of elected officials urging him to resign.

One of those? City Council Member Shaun Abreu, who represents District 7, which stretches from the Upper West Side to Washington Heights along the Hudson.

“New Yorkers deserve to have full confidence in their elected officials and their capacity to serve,” said Council Member Abreu, in a statement.

“The investigations surrounding the Adams administration have become an untenable distraction over the past several months, and news of the Mayor’s indictment is the final blow to public trust. It is clear Mayor Adams has lost focus, created distractions, and stalled our city’s grind. For the good of this city, he should resign.”

Others held back – for now.

“This indictment is hard on the Mayor and also hard on New York City,” said City Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents the bulk of the neighborhood – District 6.

“We need leadership on so many issues and it will be difficult to get answers on legislative proposals, policy ideas, and ongoing projects. With so many Commissioners and Mayoral officials resigning, it will not be business as usual. Decision making takes a back seat. However, the sanitation workers, police, firefighters, teachers, human service case workers and others will continue to do their jobs, and they deserve our full support.”

Out In The Neighborhood

As the rain subsided on Thursday afternoon and the hurricane-force humidity settled in, Patch embarked on an Upper West Side wander. What did West Siders make of the indictments, unsealed only hours earlier?

Outside Fairway – of course – at Broadway and 74th Street, Patch spoke with Beth Schwartz, who said she's lived on the Upper West Side for more than 30 years.

“I just wonder why they decided to go after Adams,” Schwartz said, “considering corruption is a known issue [in New York City government], especially in the past with the de Blasio Administration.”

Schwartz prefers Adams to the alternative: Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who would become interim mayor if Adams resigned or is removed from office.

“Do I love Adams? No, but he’s a pretty moderate guy, and honestly, the thought of Jumaane Williams running the city – for however long – to me, is like, literally terrifying, and I’m not kidding.”

“Marion Barry didn’t resign,” Schwartz continued, referring to the Washington, D.C. icon, known as “Mayor for Life” in the District, “and he had way worse things [going on] – way worse things,” Schwartz said.

Barry was infamously caught smoking crack cocaine in the early 1990s, during a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation in which he was arrested.

“I don’t think Adams should resign,” she concluded.

'Par For The Course'

Just across 79th Street, a man who shares Adams’ surname but who preferred to give Patch only his first initial, M., was also skeptical.

“My first impression is, looking at the charges – basically accepting travel and luxury hotels from Turkish diplomats – I think they all do that, so if that's all it is, quid pro quo...we’ve gotta wait and see what’s under the tip of the iceberg, but it sounds to me like it’s par for the course. You know all of these guys take junkets to Israel, right? Every single one of them," he shrugged.

M. Adams, who has lived on the Upper West Side for 12 years, also felt a resignation would be premature – and assured Patch that he and the Mayor are not related.

“People always ask me, ‘Are you related to the Mayor?’ I say, ‘I’ve been advised not to answer that,’” he laughed.

'He Had It Coming'

Across the street from Zabar's, at 80th Street and Broadway, Christine, who declined to give her last name, said she’s ready for Adams to resign.

“I miss Bloomberg,” she sighed.

Regarding the indictment, “it’s been a long time coming,” she said.

“I don’t think he’s been a great mayor, I don’t think he’s done a great job for the city. Reading through the charges, it just seems like when people get into power, they use it for their own advantage, and this is just one more example [of that]. I know he’s gonna cry, ‘I’m black, they’re picking on me,’ but it sounds like he had it coming. And the amount of resources it’s going to take to defend him, my tax dollars at work? No,” she said.

For Christine, Adams’ dubious new distinction – the first-ever mayor of New York City to be charged with a federal crime – is notable.

“I know Jimmy Walker wasn’t a great mayor either – and FDR almost removed him from office – but nobody else has gone down this road," she said.

Walker served as New York City mayor from 1926 to 1932, when he resigned.

"This is a great city and it deserves a great mayor, and he’s not a great mayor,” she said, comparing Adams to “that goofball,” former President Donald Trump.

“Despicable,” she said of Trump. “We’ve known him forever, our younger son went to school with Eric [Trump].”

Is The Drama Justified?

West Siders on Amsterdam Avenue were less forthcoming, but closer to Columbus Avenue, near 86th Street, neighbors had more to say.

Andrew Rasanen, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 13 years, expressed concern about how Adams’ legal problems might impact New York City and all of those who call it home – even temporarily.

“It’s a mess, clearly. It seems to have been developing for a while, and now everything’s coming to a head,” he sighed.

Rasanen had not yet seen the contents of the indictment when he spoke with Patch.

“I just know that it’s unfortunate, and it’s distracting from a lot of things that the city has to do to improve the lives of everyone who lives here, and those who are visiting. For me, that is probably the most unfortunate aspect of this, that it’s throwing a wrench into the works of getting so many things done,” he said.

“I would like to know, at the end of the day, that all of these charges were significant enough to create this kind of disruption, and so far I have no sense of whether that’s the case or not. I just hope that the long-term effects aren’t negative for those of us who live in New York City and who love this wonderful, crazy, aggravating, and gratifying place,” he concluded.

All of the West Siders Patch spoke with said they'd voted for Adams. He's reportedly expected to be arraigned on Friday.

UPDATE:

Congressman Jerry Nadler, who represents the Upper West Side in the House of Representatives, issued the following statement on Friday morning:

I have long been a defender of civil rights and civil liberties, and I strongly believe that every individual, no matter who they are, is guaranteed due process under the law. While the criminal charges outlined in the indictment by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District are very serious, Mayor Adams deserves the right to due process and to be treated as presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, there are questions of whether the Mayor can continue to effectively lead our City as Mayor, at this time. My belief is that the Mayor has lost the ability to effectively lead the City of New York, and therefore, he must resign.