Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty on Friday to five criminal charges from an alleged bribery scheme that spanned nearly a decade and showered the mayor with luxury travel and fraudulent campaign donations.
Adams appeared in federal court one day after the wide-ranging indictment was unsealed. He told the magistrate judge, “I am not guilty, your honor,” before being released without bail, the New York Times reported. He was ordered not to have contact with witnesses or people named in the indictment.
Adams will return to court Wednesday.
The mayor is accused, among other things, of receiving illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals and two construction executives who routed them through individuals, circumventing donation limits and triggering public matching funds to his mayoral campaign.
Later, the mayor allegedly helped his benefactors secure city approvals for construction projects, including a temporary certificate of occupancy at a new Turkish consulary, despite warnings that the building was not safe.
The mayor has said he won’t step down, even as fellow Democrats at the city, state and federal level call on him to resign and senior administration officials quit on an almost daily basis.
After the indictment was released, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the authority to remove Adams from office, put the mayor on notice.
“New Yorkers deserve to know that their municipal government is working effectively, ethically and in the best interests of the people — driving down crime, educating our kids and ensuring basic city services continue unabated,” she said in a statement. “It’s now up to Mayor Adams to show the city that he is able to lead in that manner.”
If Adams is removed from office or steps down, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would become interim mayor and, depending on the timing, a successor would be chosen in a nonpartisan special election. If Adams does not leave office until 2025, Williams would remain mayor through December, the remainder of Adams’ term, City & State reported.
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Adams has been an ally of the real estate industry, unlike any of the declared mayoral candidates. The indictment jeopardizes the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, which is up for City Council approval, and other real estate priorities of the administration.
The mayor has asked New Yorkers to reserve judgment until they hear his defense, but he has yet to present one, other than to say the prosecutors’ case is a “story” based on “lies.”