City Health Director Ashwin Vasan announced Monday he would step down at the end of the year, becoming the latest to leave the Adams administration as several city officials become targets of federal investigations.
Vasan, who has served as New York City's top physician since March 2022, informed City Hall and his own staff of his plans today but said he would stay on while Adams searches for a replacement, The Washington Post confirmed.
Vasan has not been connected to any of the known investigations into city officials, but he will be part of a growing number of administrators leaving city government.
Last week, Adams' deputy secretary for public-private partnerships and economic development, Kristen Edgreen Kaufman, retired after three years in the position.
So did attorney Lisa Zornberg, who abruptly resigned last Saturday night after Mayor Adams was unwilling to fire three officials who are the subject of a federal investigation: Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, Adams's influential adviser to immigration, Tim Pearson, and the city's director of Asian affairs, Winnie Greco, sources told The Washington Post.
“I have determined that I can no longer effectively fulfill the responsibilities of my position and am therefore offering my resignation, effective immediately,” Sonberg wrote in his resignation letter.
The moves follow the decision to resign from former Police Chief Edward Cavan, who came under intense pressure from City Hall after his Rockland County home was raided by federal agents about two weeks ago.
He has not been charged with any crime, but federal agents seized his electronic devices, along with those of Adams' aide Timothy Pearson, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Banks and Banks' brother Terrence Banks, and schools principal David Banks.
It is unclear how the investigation and searches will tie in, but sources said the investigation and searches address corruption and influence peddling at the highest levels of city government.
Below is the latest on the FBI's investigation into Adams administration associates.
The city's emergency management chairman, Zach Iscol, is also rumored to be looking for an exit.
But on Monday, he posted to X that he had “discussed this many times” but decided “it's right to stay.”
