WORLD WORLDWIDE USA New York NY New York City NYC the city THE CITY News Journal Update - Suspect Adams donors, an NYC check-up, join your CB

 

Dear New Yorkers,

Three donors to Mayor Eric Adams’ 2025 re-election campaign have stated in interviews that they — and, in two cases, their spouses — were reimbursed for more than $10,000 in donations.

The revelations came during a joint investigation by THE CITY, Documented and The Guardian US. They point to possible new instances of an illegal practice — ”straw” donations, in which campaign contributions are paid for by unreported sources — that has already surfaced in investigations of fundraising for Adams’ first mayoral campaign.

Evidence of possible straw donations spurred the indictment by the Manhattan district attorney of a fundraising group involved in Adams’ 2021 race, which has led to two guilty pleas. An ongoing federal investigation is reportedly looking into whether straw donors may have been used to veil illegal donations from Turkish nationals.

A representative of the mayor’s campaign has decried the use of straw donations generally and said that if any were made to Adams 2025, they had eluded a vetting procedure designed to flag illegal gifts.

Read more about the three people who said they were reimbursed for contributions to Adams’ 2025 campaign here.

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Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday’s Weather Rating: 4/10. Mostly cloudy…again. It’s warmer though, with high temperatures in the upper 40s this afternoon. I guess we’ll take what we can get. The vibes are…OK.

Our Other Top Stories

The preliminary Mayor’s Management Report, released on Tuesday, provides a snapshot of how the city is doing for New Yorkers. It’s a more than 400-page document that includes a slew of indicators, tracking everything from crime statistics to how long it takes each agency to respond to emails. This year’s edition brought both good news and bad news. Major felony crime went down but wait times for emergency responses went up — as did the number of people incarcerated on Rikers Island. In stunning remarks published Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul called the rollout of New York State’s cannabis program a “disaster,” and said that it was unlikely the program could be fixed without significant changes to the cannabis legalization law itself. The comments were made in response to questions from the editorial board of the Buffalo News. “It’s not every street corner,” Hochul said, referring to illegal retailers in New York City. “It is every other storefront. It is insane.” Community boards are the entry level of local government — but what do they really do? And how are members chosen? It’s application season, so here is THE CITY’s guide for anyone who wants to get involved.

Reporter’s Notebook

Queens Judge Dismisses Claim Court Officer Tampered With Grand Jury

Queens Criminal Court Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant has decided that the borough’s court officers did not improperly instruct grand jurors to abstain from discussing cases during deliberations as was alleged by the jury’s foreman last year.

Legal ethics experts told THE CITY at the time that those charges had suggested an “egregious due process violation,” but Pandit-Durant, a former Queens prosecutor of 28 years, dismissed those allegations after two prosecutors and a detective interviewed 10 additional jurors and received signed affidavits from three others.

“The People argue that defendant has not established that the conduct of the court officers impaired the integrity of the grand jury,” Pandit-Durant wrote in a decision on Jan. 11 in response to a pre-trial motion regarding an attempted robbery case, which had the grand jury foreman’s allegations attached in an affidavit.

— Haidee Chu

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, Feb. 1: The opening reception for The Ways of Langston Hughes: Griff Davis and Black Artists in the Making, an ongoing New York Public Library exhibition of photographs of Langston Hughes with students, writers, visual artists and performers. Free from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Saturday, Feb. 3: Hands-on History: Victorian Valentines, an arts-and-crafts event for all ages that uses reproductions of historic patterns in Valentine’s Day card-making. Free from 1 to 4 p.m. at King Manor Museum in Rufus King Park in Queens. Saturday, Feb. 3: An in-person book giveaway for anyone over the age of 10. Free (pre-registration required) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Brooklyn Book Bodega.

THE KICKER: The Staten Island Ferry is bringing back its concession stands — which could include alcohol. The free boats haven’t had food and drink since the start of the pandemic.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.

Love,

THE CITY

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