A number of top officials in Mayor Eric Adams’s administration resigned in September before news of Mr. Adams’s indictment broke. They include:
Edward A. Caban, the police commissioner
Edward A. Caban resigned as New York City’s police commissioner on Sept. 12 at the request of City Hall, which asked him to do so after federal investigators seized his phone. News coverage of the investigation had “created a distraction for the department,” Mr. Caban said in an email to members of the Police Department.
Lawyers for Mr. Caban, who was appointed commissioner by Mr. Adams in July 2023, said in a statement that federal prosecutors had told them that he was not a target of the investigation and that he intended to cooperate fully with the authorities.
Lisa Zornberg, the mayor’s counsel and chief legal adviser
Lisa Zornberg abruptly resigned from her post as the mayor’s counsel and chief legal adviser on Sept. 14. She had been one of the mayor’s fiercest defenders over the past 10 months, encouraging New Yorkers not to rush to judgment against him. Mr. Adams named her chief counsel in July 2023. She previously worked as a senior prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.
“It has been a great honor to serve the city,” Ms. Zornberg wrote in a brief letter to the mayor. “I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position. I wish you nothing but the best.”
Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the health commissioner
Dr. Ashwin Vasan, who led the city out of the Covid-19 pandemic, was the third top administration official to resign in September amid the investigations swirling around the mayor. Dr. Vasan’s resignation will take effect early next year. He said he had decided to step down because he wanted to spend more time with his family. A City Hall spokesman said the departure was unrelated to the federal inquiries, and Dr. Vasan affirmed that in a brief interview with The New York Times.
“As anyone with a family — or a chosen family — knows, you are never alone in service,” he said in a statement. “My wife and three young children have served alongside me, bearing the brunt of my absence and shouldering so much. I’m grateful for their love and have chosen that now it is time to support them and their well-being.”
David C. Banks, the schools chancellor
David C. Banks said on Sept. 24 that he would resign as the city schools chancellor at the end of December. The announcement came weeks after federal agents seized his phone as part of a bribery investigation involving his brothers and fiancée, the first deputy mayor.
The investigation is separate from three other inquiries involving the Adams administration. Mr. Banks had not been accused of any wrongdoing. Mr. Adams named him chancellor in December 2021.
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