First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright resigned Tuesday and is expected to be replaced by one of her top aides — the latest staff shakeup to rock Mayor Adams’ administration in the wake of his criminal indictment and continuing fallout from federal corruption probes besieging City Hall.
Wright, one of five senior Adams administration officials whose homes were raided by federal authorities on Sept. 4, was initially expected to step down this past Friday as part of an effort by the mayor to push out advisers ensnared in the corruption investigations.
But sources familiar with the situation told the Daily News that Wright refused, even as the other four top staffers raided on Sept. 4 — including her husband, outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks — announced their resignations.
Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, Wright submitted her own resignation letter to the mayor, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
David Banks. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)
Wright, a lawyer and ex-nonprofit executive who chaired Adams’ 2021 transition committee, is expected to be succeeded as first deputy mayor by Maria Torres-Springer, the current deputy mayor for housing and economic development.
Spokespeople for the mayor’s office didn’t immediately return requests for comment Tuesday.
The first deputy is the second-in-command at City Hall and absorbs the mayor’s duties when he’s out of town. The first deputy also oversees all the administration’s other deputy mayors.
Wright’s departure marks at least the 11th high-profile official in the Adams administration to be ousted since the latest corruption investigations came to light last month. On Monday alone, news broke that Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, senior Adams adviser Winnie Greco and Muslim community liaison Mohamed Bahi had resigned, while international affairs aide Rana Abbasova and South Asian affairs adviser Ahsan Chughtai had been fired.
Among other matters, the feds leading the investigations are looking at whether Adams administration officials engaged in a scheme involving influence peddling and kickbacks on city contracts, according to sources familiar with the matter. They have been investigating whether government relations consultant Terence Banks, the younger sibling of Phil and David Banks and Wright’s brother-in-law, used his family connections in municipal government to steer city business to his private clients, sources say.
The mayor is indicted on federal criminal charges alleging he for years solicited and accepted bribes from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors. He has pleaded not guilty.
The rash of resignations and firings is unfolding after Gov. Hochul, who has the power to remove the mayor from office, demanded publicly that he dump advisers embroiled in the federal investigations.
Hochul has so far stayed clear of publicly discussing whether she may use her power to remove Adams, who’s the only official in his administration to date to be criminally indicted.
