Another top aide to New York City mayor resigns amid federal probe

FILE - New York City Police Dept. Chief of Department Philip Banks attends a news conference, in New York, Jan. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/File)

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that he’s accepted the resignation of his deputy mayor for public safety, Philip Banks, the latest senior official to leave as the mayor fends off an indictment and calls to step down.

Adams said on TV station NY1 that Banks had told him Sunday that “he wants to transition to some other things” and “doesn’t want this to be a constant burden on the work that we’re doing in the city.” The mayor added, “I wish my good friend well.”

The resignation, first reported in the New York Post, comes one month after federal agents seized devices from top city officials including Banks and his brother, schools chancellor David Banks, who also announced his resignation. In total, five top administration officials have left the administration in the last month.

Federal prosecutors have said they are pursuing “several related investigations” in addition to the case against the mayor, who was indicted late last month on charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals. He has pleaded not guilty.

In a separate probe, federal prosecutors are scrutinizing whether a consulting firm run by a third Banks brother, Terence, broke the law by leveraging his family connections to help private companies secure city contracts, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose information about the investigations.

All three Banks brothers have denied wrongdoing. An attorney for Philip Banks, Benjamin Brafman, said Monday that federal prosecutors had assured him his client was not a target of the investigation. He said prosecutors were initially scrutinizing “insignificant” Zelle payments between the brothers that were actually related to poker games.

The Justice Department’s definition of a target is notoriously fluid. Prior to Adams’ indictment, the city’s top legal counsel, who has also since resigned, told reporters that the mayor did not appear to be a target of the investigation.

Adams has rebuffed calls to resign, brushing off concern about his ability to govern as he mounts his legal defense and contends with an exodus of top aides. “I am confident when the true story gets out and not a one-sided version, New Yorkers are going to see that we can stay focused and get the job done,” he said Monday.

But he is facing mounting pressure to clean house in his administration, including from Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove him from office.

Adams appointed Philip Banks in 2022 as deputy for public safety, a role not seen in New York since the 1990s that gave him wide influence over the nation’s largest police and fire departments.

Banks had previously served as the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed member, but resigned abruptly in 2014 after becoming ensnared in another corruption scandal that shook City Hall.

In that case, federal investigators obtained approval to wiretap his phone amid questions about $300,000 that wound up in bank accounts belonging to him and his wife. Two businessmen were later convicted of bribing police officers and other officials. Banks was not charged but was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.

He later acknowledged accepting gifts from the businessmen — including overseas travel, meals and cigars — that were mistakenly omitted from disclosure forms.

“I never broke the law, nor did I ever betray the public trust by abusing my authority as an NYPD official,” he wrote in a guest essay announcing his return to public service under Adams.

Adams has been a friend of the Banks brothers since the 1980s, when the future mayor was a young police officer and their father, Philip Banks Jr., was a law enforcement mentor.

On Thursday, Adams announced that David Banks would cease running the schools system on Oct. 16, and not at the end of the calendar year as previously announced. In a statement, David Banks said he had planned to continue serving through the end of the year “to conduct a responsible transition for our staff,” but that Adams had “decided to accelerate that timeline.”

In addition to seizing the phones of the three Banks brothers, federal investigators also took devices from the city’s police commissioner, Edward Caban, and one of Adams’ closest aides, Timothy Pearson. Both men have since stepped down. Caban and Pearson have both denied wrongdoing.

At a press briefing last month, Adams spoke of his close ties to the Banks brothers.

“I’ve known the Banks families for years,” he said. “And my knowing someone, I hold them to the same standard that I hold myself to.”