The emergency management director warned that the wave of federal investigations into the Adams administration could severely undermine the city's ability to keep New Yorkers safe.
Commissioner Zach Iscol spoke bluntly on Friday during a private call with senior OEM officials about the possibility that this week's barrage of investigations and searches could be disruptive to administration leadership.
“This is not good.” He saidAccording to a recording of the meeting obtained by The Associated Press.
“There's a lot going on in the city and my biggest concern is that city leadership is distracted,” Iscol said, adding that he has not yet spoken with city hall leaders.
OEM, which is responsible for the city's emergency procedures, is part of the portfolio held by Deputy Mayor Philip Banks III, whose home was searched by federal agents this week and whose cell phones were seized.
City Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens), who called on Police Commissioner Edward Cavan to resign earlier this week after federal agents seized his cell phone, along with those of other NYPD officers, during a raid on his home, said he shared Iscol's concerns.
With an investigation looming, leaders like Cabán will likely lose confidence in their decisions, “which will have a negative impact on public safety.”
“How can you maintain the same confidence and focus if you're under investigation?” he told The Post.
“Public safety is paramount in New York City, and we need everyone's help, especially now,” he added. “We can't operate at 100 percent capacity with a federal investigation looming over our heads.”
Other senior administration officials who had devices seized in recent days include Police Commissioner Edward Cabán, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Banks' brother, the city's superintendent of schools, David Banks.
Another senior aide to Adams, former NYPD Inspector Timothy Pearson, also received a cellphone subpoena, sources said.
No one has been charged with a crime.
The investigation is being led by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, who are also investigating Adams' 2021 campaign in a separate, unrelated, high-profile investigation, the people said.
Federal agents are investigating at least eight of Adams' top aides, including his campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, whose home was searched in November in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving City Hall and the Turkish government.
In a separate investigation overseen by the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, FBI agents in February searched two properties owned by Winnie Greco, Adams's former Asia director.
Federal prosecutors investigating Hizzoner's 2021 campaign fundraising have issued grand jury subpoenas to Hizzoner, city hall officials and his campaign.
City Hall spokesman Fabian Levy denied concerns that the investigation would have any impact on the safety of New Yorkers, pointing to declining crime statistics in the city since the first federal investigation in November and the city's response to Wednesday's flooding in the Queens Midtown Tunnel.
“At the end of the day, what New Yorkers care about is whether our streets are still safe, whether their trash is still being picked up, whether their children can go to school — and the answer to each of those questions is a resounding yes,” he said.
An OEM spokesman said Iscol and the Adams administration “remain committed to our public safety mission.”
With post wire
