For Immediate Release: September 16, 2024
Contact: Sophie Ellman-Golan | sophie@jfrej.org
Since taking office, Mayor Adams has systematically dismantled governmental transparency and failed to provide even the most basic services for New Yorkers – a natural consequence of prioritizing cronyism and corruption at the expense of good government. Nearly every day of the past two weeks has brought a new scandal, raid, indictment, or resignation. This is not simply random chaos; it’s the result of Eric Adams’ priorities and failed leadership. A City Hall mired in investigations and corruption cannot keep the public’s trust. For the sake of our city, Mayor Adams must resign.
Nowhere is this administration’s corruption and disregard for New Yorkers more dangerous than inside the NYPD. At least seventeen members of Mayor Adams’ administration are currently under investigation, more than half of them either current or former NYPD officials. Just this weekend, an officer recklessly opened fire in a subway station, shooting three subway riders and a fellow officer over an alleged $2.90 fare evasion. In comments to the press following the shooting, the mayor and NYPD have intentionally tried to mislead the public about the incident.
Just days ago, we learned that the NYPD and staff in the mayor’s office colluded to extort our city’s small business owners. A top aide to Mayor Adams and former NYPD Inspector recently raided by the FBI is on the record stating his desire to profit off of city contracts relating to the arrival of new immigrants. Mayor Adams' planned Cop City in Queens and recent placement of NYPD brass in over a dozen city departments will make the NYPD’s unaccountable, abusive, and self-serving practices even more widespread. These acts are all representative of this administration’s pattern of shirking responsibility, endangering the public, and seeking personal enrichment.
The mayor and NYPD must be held accountable for rampant abuse, not invited to expand their power over New Yorkers.
###
Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) is a 6,000-member grassroots organization and the home of New York’s Jewish Left. For over 30 years, JFREJ members have organized alongside our neighbors to transform New York from a playground for the wealthy few into a real democracy, free from all forms of racist violence.