Mayor Adams was already fighting to overcome the corruption allegations that were circling his candidacy before last week.
However, experts told the Daily News that Thursday’s release of four separate bribery indictments that implicate two of Adams’ most trusted political confidantes, Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Jesse Hamilton, represents a setback for the mayor’s attempt to distance himself from corruption issues before the November election. His detractors seized the opportunity to paint it as a sign of poor leadership.
Those who have stood by him up to this point, in my opinion, will stick with him, but if you were unsure, I believe you should seek elsewhere. When asked how he believes the fresh indictments will affect the mayoral election, political consultant Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the Democratic Party of fresh York, said.
For Adams to have any chance of winning a second term in City Hall, those voters who are on the fence are thought to be essential.
Adams has continuously been ranked third or fourth in polls for the November election, much behind both independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Democratic mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani.
Many have attributed Adams’ low polling performance thus far to his own federal corruption indictment, which was overturned by President Trump’s Justice Department this spring as part of a contentious agreement that made many think Adams is under Trump’s influence.After being embroiled in federal investigations, some of his most important aides quit. More recently, a number of NYPD officers have filed lawsuits accusing the mayor of allowing the police force to become into a refuge for corruption. One of these individuals is Adams’ own former acting police commissioner, Tom Donlon.
The business sector, which has previously indicated that it would be willing to support Adams’ reelection campaign financially, is also likely to become even more alarmed by the latest Lewis-Martin accusations over corruption and poor management at Adams City Hall.
According to a New York business executive who has donated to Adams’ campaigns, the fact that the mayor permitted Lewis-Martin to return and work on his reelection campaign despite allegations of wrongdoing against her has caused anxiety among the donor class since Thursday, the News reported. Her second wave of corruption charges led to her detention last week.
The business executive made reference to the way another troubled Adams campaign aide, Winnie Greco, ham-handedly handed a potato chip bag full of cash to a reporter from the news outlet The City last week, saying, “We are used to the corruption and the scandals, it’s part of the package, but what I’m hearing now is concern about how bad the campaign is being run, and the potato chip thing isn’t helping.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to offend Adams, the executive stated that the new indictments might push some business leaders to support Andrew Cuomo, who is also running as an independent in the November election after losing the June primary to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate who is thought to be the front-runner to become the next mayor.
According to the executive, Cuomo is the sole remaining location.
The most recent Lewis-Martin convictions may harm the mayor’s reputation with some funders, according to Hank Sheinkopf, a seasoned political strategist in New York who is working on a number of pro-Adams and anti-Mamdani super PACs in this election. He rejected the notion that funders would rush to Cuomo instead, claiming the former governor isn’t particularly well-liked by the business sector at the moment due to his significant primary defeat to Mamdani.
Regarding Adams and Cuomo, Sheinkopf stated that they were both injured.
Sheinkopf, on the other hand, asserted that Mamdani benefits from the recent Lewis-Martin affair.
Both contenders used the opportunity presented by the indictments to remind voters of the persistent corruption accusations against the Adams administration.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor, claimed that Adams’ first term amounted to a revival of Tammany Hall-style politics.
Speaking Friday in Union Square Park, just a short distance from the notorious headquarters of the Tammany Hall organization that controlled city politics in the early 20th century, Mamdani remarked, “Mark Twain once said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” And here we are, just a stone’s throw away from Tammany Hall, and we see that rhyme taking place with Eric Adams becoming a living, breathing testament to a continued legacy of corruption in this city’s politics.
Cuomo also added his voice.
On Friday, Cuomo stated, “I don’t think Mayor Adams can legitimately ask New Yorkers to give him four more years.”
He hasn’t done a good job, in my opinion, and the mayor’s string of corruption prosecutions is damning. In addition, he cut a deal with President Trump in which he turned his back on New Yorkers in order to save his own skin. And it is unacceptable to me.
Adams made a forceful defense of Lewis-Martin and Hamilton in his first public comments regarding the fresh indictments on Friday, stating that he only knows them as devoted public servants and wishing them the best. However, in his remarks at City Hall, he also admitted that errors had occurred during his administration.
He stated that although we have made mistakes, we have remained committed to the citizens of this community.
Lewis-Martin, her adult son Glenn Martin II, Hamilton, and three businesspeople were accused of participating in multi-year bribery schemes in the new indictments, which were filed by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Hamilton, who quit his senior administration position just hours after his arraignment, was one of the six defendants who entered not guilty pleas.
Lewis-Martin is charged with abusing her position as Adams’ chief adviser at City Hall to exert pressure on local government organizations, such as the Department of Buildings, the FDNY, and the public hospital system, to perform favors for her purported backers, such as obtaining contracts for migrant shelters and expedited property permits. Prosecutors claim that her alleged crimes occurred during her time at City Hall, beginning in March 2022, a few weeks after Adams was elected mayor, and continuing until at least November 2024.
Prosecutors claim that Hamilton and Martin II participated in the schemes by assisting Lewis-Martin in his pressure campaign.
The accused bribers, TV production tycoons Tony and Gina Argento and Queens businessman Tian Ji Li, lavished Lewis-Martin, her son, and Hamilton with gifts and money in return. Prosecutors claim that the bribes totaled at least $75,000, though some of them weren’t monetary in nature. For example, the Argentos landed Lewis-Martin a guest appearance on the Hulu series Godfather of Harlem after she assisted them in thwarting a bike lane project in northern Brooklyn that they didn’t like.
Adams defended the Argentos, who contribute significantly to his campaigns, as outstanding New Yorkers in his remarks on Friday.
He told reporters that they truly care about the city of New York and that they are wonderful people.
The most recent shocking indictments follow a separate set of corruption allegations in December 2024 against Lewis-Martin and her son, who were accused of accepting $100,000 in bribes to expedite building permits for two real estate developers.
Lewis-Martin left his position as Adams’ chief adviser just before the charges were dropped in December 2024. Adams had suffered a significant setback when a number of his key advisors, including his schools chancellor, police commissioner, first deputy mayor, and deputy mayor for public safety, resigned months earlier due to federal investigations. No charges have resulted from the investigations.
