KAROL MARKOWICZ: Corruption allegations hit New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s inner circle.
Joseph Jardin, who was previously the FDNY’s chief of fire prevention, is suing after he and six other department chiefs were demoted for protesting the use of the DMO List. But Jardin’s suit alleges not just favoritism but also looking the other way about actual danger. As the website The City reported in November 2023, “Last spring Jardin told the FBI about an interaction in 2021, when Adams was still Brooklyn Borough President but soon to be mayor, and allegedly pressured the FDNY to reinspect a newly constructed 35-story Midtown building housing the Turkish consulate where the fire safety system had failed an inspection.”
A 35-story building in Manhattan already failing a fire department inspection and being fast-tracked for approval is more than just a political scandal.
For a long time, despite the innuendos and the gossip, the house searches and the subpoenas, no one had been arrested. That changed last Monday, Sept. 16.
Anthony Saccavino and Brian Cordasco, two high-ranking fire department officials who had resigned their posts after their own FBI home raids earlier this year, were arrested in connection with the investigation.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams held a press conference on Monday outlining the scheme. “They allegedly created a VIP lane for faster service that could only be accessed with bribes,” he said at a press conference. “That’s classic pay-to-play corruption.”
Suddenly, New York City Hall’s attempts to brush off the corruption allegations looked unlikely to succeed. In the last year, many had come to the mayor’s defense. Former New York Gov. David Paterson called the federal investigation “Orwellian” and suggested the Biden administration was coming after Adams because he had criticized the president for sending migrants to New York. The conversation about whether Adams would survive his term was no longer theoretical. If the FDNY officials were facing jail for their role in expediting the inspections, it stood to reason that someone in the mayor’s office had motivated them to do so.
What’s interesting is, according to the New York Post, “Adams’ campaign accepted a $6,000 donation from three donors who served on the board of a foundation backed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son Bilal.” A $6,000 donation hardly seems like the kind of thing to blow up your mayoralty over. And the existence of the DMO List during the de Blasio administration tells the story that this kind of, yes, corruption was often accepted and overlooked.
Exit quote: “‘I’m dyslexic. I was arrested. I was rejected. Now I’m elected,’ Adams likes to say. Yes, but can he stay that way?”
Meanwhile, get ready to return to the bad old days, Fun City: NYC could become a dystopian hellhole run by liberal activist Jumaane Williams who protested against police if Adams gets the boot: ‘Lord help us.’
Social media users have already started expressing fear about what a mayor Williams would mean for NYC.
‘Jumaane D. Williams makes AOC look like Joe Manchin. Big defund the police/bail reform guy,’ Joe Colangelo said on X.
‘To say this would be the final nail in the coffin for NYC is an understatement. JW is basically a villain from Batman,’ another X user added.
Lisa Cappiello simply wrote: ‘Lord help us.’
During 15 years in public service, Williams has stoked anti-police sentiment and pushed for criminal reform, including to end solitary confinement in city prisons. He is also a prominent pro-Palestine activist.
The failed gubernatorial candidate is a firm proponent of slashing the NYPD’s budget but lives in a US military base in Brooklyn that offers 24-hour security.
Williams was a leader of the 2020 BLM protests in NYC. In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, he led marches to Brooklyn Borough Hall to demand NYPD budget cuts.
He also threatened to refuse to sign a warrant authorizing the collection of real estate taxes, which underpin the city’s budget.
Williams said he would not sign that warrant unless the city eliminated the next class of police officers.
‘This guy hates the cops, hates America. Wears a Keffiyeh,’ Sliwa told DailyMail.com. ‘The police will no longer be able to function….
Sliwa added that even in a temporary position, Williams’ mayorship could have lasting effects for NYC and it will spark an exodus from the city.
‘[City Council] will pass so much legislation that he will sign and will never be able to be rescinded,’ Sliwa added. ‘New York City will become the socialist capital of the world.’
I’m pretty sure that The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t meant to be a how-to guide for calm municipal government.