Jail for Mayor Adams. Jail for Mayor Adams for one thousand years.

September 25, 2024 7:45 PM

Eric Adams Is Indicted in New York [archive] "The indictment is sealed, and it was unclear what charge or charges Mr. Adams, a Democrat, will face or when he will surrender to the authorities. Federal prosecutors are expected to announce the details of the indictment on Thursday."
posted by AlSweigart (112 comments total)

From The Onion in 2021: De Blasio: ‘Well, Well, Well, Not So Easy To Find A Mayor That Doesn’t Suck Shit, Huh?’
posted by AlSweigart at 7:47 PM on September 25, 2024 [66 favorites]

@NateSilver538: It's probably foolish to think a NYC mayor will successfully translate into being a national political figure, but I still think Eric Adams would be in my top 5 for "who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden?".

10/10, no notes.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:56 PM on September 25, 2024 [126 favorites]

LOL. LMAO, even.
posted by tzikeh at 8:01 PM on September 25, 2024 [6 favorites]

Best post title!!!
posted by supermedusa at 8:03 PM on September 25, 2024 [28 favorites]

Bluesky, or at least its NY delegation, is wilding right now.
posted by praemunire at 8:07 PM on September 25, 2024 [10 favorites]

A nation reels as the mayor of New York City, who began his campaign by lying about whether he even fucking lives in New York City, turns out to be a conman.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:16 PM on September 25, 2024 [56 favorites]

My general principle, as a resident of the also very corrupt state of NSW, is that any society in which one's political leaders are routinely sent to prison is either very very bad, or very very good.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 8:23 PM on September 25, 2024 [30 favorites]

He's the guy that said he wanted to be paid in bitcoin, iirc.
posted by ryanrs at 8:43 PM on September 25, 2024

I love the title of this post so much. 😻
posted by limeonaire at 8:51 PM on September 25, 2024 [7 favorites]

Calling the federal charges against him “entirely false” and “based on lies,” Adams said “I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target—and a target I became.”

Classic strategies of deny, attack, and reverse victim & offender. This guy is in an abusive relationship with New York City.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:53 PM on September 25, 2024 [21 favorites]

He's the guy that said he wanted to be paid in bitcoin, iirc.

Yeah, but that came after we all knew he was an asshole.
posted by axiom at 8:53 PM on September 25, 2024 [2 favorites]

hope he's packed his popular knapsack with many different locations

(from this absolute fever dream when he was a state Senator; Eric Adams has sucked for a very long time)
posted by Merus at 9:22 PM on September 25, 2024 [4 favorites]

"You have no power over...A NEW JERSEY RESIDENT!" Eric Adams cackles before throwing a tennis ball, mistakenly thinking it is a smoke bomb.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:38 PM on September 25, 2024 [28 favorites]

Yeah, but that came after we all knew he was an asshole

Is “before we knew Eric Adams was an asshole” a deeply theoretical thing, like the state of the universe before the Big Bang?
posted by atoxyl at 10:08 PM on September 25, 2024 [18 favorites]

Folks on Twitter (and I assume other social media platforms) having fun with all the ridiculous pro-Adams puff pieces of yore, e.g. Bret Stephens "Eric Adams Is Going to Save New York".
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:09 PM on September 25, 2024 [8 favorites]

There was some crazy wonky stuff happening with his former fundraiser who was way too green for that role. There are so many ways to mess up political fundraising that lands you in jail, having someone that new was either completely foolish or an effort to pull someone in who wouldn't know that they were breaking the law.
posted by Toddles at 10:23 PM on September 25, 2024 [3 favorites]

AHAHAHAHA Maureen Dowd on Adams in 2022: "The mayor's magnetic smile is a promise."
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:42 PM on September 25, 2024 [18 favorites]

At the time, Adams insisted he followed the law and said he would be “shocked” if anyone on his campaign had acted illegally. “I cannot tell you how much I start the day with telling my team we’ve got to follow the law,” he told reporters at the time.

when you have to remind your team every morning to do no crimes…
posted by russm at 12:13 AM on September 26, 2024 [44 favorites]

#YangWasRight

ABC News from 2021 : Andrew Yang blasts Eric Adams with 'corruption' allegations in heated NYC Democratic mayoral debate
posted by Borborygmus at 1:36 AM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

I don’t support jail or the criminal “justice” system but man “former NYPD captain indicted” is the cocaine of temptations on my principles in that regard.

Also for those who aren’t familiar, federal indictments aren’t like state indictments. Feds hate to lose; they rarely move unless they’re really, really sure they can get a conviction.
posted by corb at 2:25 AM on September 26, 2024 [32 favorites]

Finally. This felt inevitable since his election. And I'm saying that as a Portlander who's never been to NYC.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 2:35 AM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

As I mentioned in the Tenet Media thread, the Feds have convicted Democrat Robert Menendez for being a foreign agent for Egypt (along with the basic bribery charges), they have indicted an aide of Democrat Kathy Hochul of being a foreign agent for China, and now they’re indicting Adams of being a foreign agent for Turkey. This really looks to me like they’re cleaning the Democratic side of the plate before they start going after certain Republicans for being agents of Russia.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 3:38 AM on September 26, 2024 [43 favorites]

This really looks to me like they’re cleaning the Democratic side of the plate before they start going after certain Republicans for being agents of Russia.

Oh, sweet baby white Jesus, that would be a fine thing.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:11 AM on September 26, 2024 [33 favorites]

This really looks to me like they’re cleaning the Democratic side of the plate before they start going after certain Republicans for being agents of Russia.

Then we all better hope one of them doesn’t get elected President.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:17 AM on September 26, 2024 [27 favorites]

One of my oldest and dearest friends has worked as a Federal district attorney for about 15 years: she's one of the chief deputies for the appointed US Attorney for our state. I messaged her last night and was like "why is the indictment sealed?" and her response was "because he's so absolutely cooked that my colleagues in NY are now waiting to see if there's anyone they don't already have paper on who scurries for the shadows, and they'll pick those people off before they unseal the indictment." Having heard a million stories from her, I already knew the Feds never, never indict until they're absolutely certain they will win.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 4:28 AM on September 26, 2024 [55 favorites]

The only appropriate response.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 4:33 AM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

We really need to bring back the phrase, “you don’t need to make a federal case out of it.”

Except sometimes, well, you do.
posted by thecaddy at 4:57 AM on September 26, 2024 [4 favorites]

This really looks to me like they’re cleaning the Democratic side of the plate before they start going after certain Republicans for being agents of Russia.

This time Lucy will let me kick the ball. I'm sure of it!
posted by srboisvert at 5:29 AM on September 26, 2024 [61 favorites]

(The post title is from this internet meme:)

me, lightly touching miette with the side of my foot: miette move out of the way please so I don’t trip on you

miette, her eyes enormous: you KICK miette? you kick her body like the football? oh! oh! jail for mother! jail for mother for One Thousand Years!!!!
posted by AlSweigart at 6:13 AM on September 26, 2024 [29 favorites]

Thank god. Even aside from his insultingly transparent corruption, he has been a terrible mayor and generally strikes me as a fundamentally stupid and incurious person. It’s not at all a surprise that dozens of Democrats here are already clamoring for him to resign, because everyone who’s not in his inner circle of cronies has despised him since day one.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:19 AM on September 26, 2024 [14 favorites]

His failures became his jailers in this fable of excess.
posted by rodlymight at 6:22 AM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

thanks to AlSweigart for clue-ing in clueless people like me.

for those of us who don't do Twitter/X, more explanation and a clickable photo of the tweet (featuring the accusing glare of Miette) is here.

Also, yay for this. Even long-transplanted ex-NYers like me know what a shitheel Adams is.
posted by martin q blank at 6:38 AM on September 26, 2024 [10 favorites]

Adams will never resign.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:49 AM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]

There's a great If Books Could Kill podcast episode from just last month, What's Wrong with Eric Adams? It's locked behind the $4 Patreon level but it's worth the listen. I'm also sure they'll soon release it as a regular episode though. IBCK is hosted by Michael Hobbes (You're Wrong About, Maintenance Phase) and Peter Shamshiri (5-to-4, "a podcast about how the Supreme Court sucks") and ii constantly recommend.

For this month's bonus episode, Peter and Michael explore a recurring IBCK character: New York City's weird, stupid mayor.
posted by AlSweigart at 6:54 AM on September 26, 2024 [17 favorites]

NateSilver538: It's probably foolish to think a NYC mayor will successfully translate into being a national political figure, but I still think Eric Adams would be in my top 5 for "who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden?".

OK, a bit of a miss, but his follow-up tweet is spot on: "He's going to be good at getting media attention..."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:15 AM on September 26, 2024 [3 favorites]

Ever since Adams gave a tour of what was clearly his son's brooklyn apartment claiming it as his own, he's been the most entertaining guy in politics in a long time. Out in the street in the early morning squeezing random melons (the fruit), late nights clubbing at Zero Bond, bizarrely lying about how being a strict vegan cured imaginary ailments while constantly being caught eating non-vegan food, making up a story about a dead cop friend and then frantically having staffers print out and try to "age" a photo of him, saying the craziest shit you've ever heard a mayor say, etc., all of this to me means federal indictments or not, don't count Adams out. Trump has shown that in national politics, being incredibly entertaining makes up for being corrupt, craven, and stupid. He still might be the third Adams president
posted by dis_integration at 7:18 AM on September 26, 2024 [15 favorites]

FYI for those of you not from the New Yorkest City In The World, here's a quick rundown on what Adams has been up to as Mayor:

• Said that as a former police officer, he was the only person capable of holding the NYPD accountable. Since then, he's given carte blanche to police officers, defunded the Civilian Complaint Review Board, given police leadership authority to overrule punishments of officers, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on overtime to catch a handful of fare-beaters, and completely ignored the directives of federal monitors about the conditions of the Riker's Island jail, where the City cannot stop jail guards from raping inmates or inmates dying 'mysteriously.'
• Promised to build 150 miles of bus lanes, managed to build 7
• Promised to be "the bike mayor" but slowed down and watered down street safety initiatives by passing them through his cadre of senior advisors who have never stepped foot outside of an official SUV
• Hired dozens of friends lovers and family members to high-ranking city positions
• Promised to be the "Get Shit Done" mayor, but failed to get anything done by cutting budgets of almost all city agencies, some of which are barely keeping the lights on with 20% vacancy rates in positions
• Defunded libraries and schools
• Promised to fund the Parks Department with 1% of the city's budget; cut its budget instead to roughly half that.
• Bravely announced a bold new plan to put garbage in containers
• Spent a surprisingly large amount of time at flag-raising ceremonies for other countries, repeatedly declaring NYC to be the [other country's capital] of America.
• Lied about: being vegan, living in New York City, and a whole host of other easily disprovable things
• Oh! Credibly accused of sexual assault

posted by entropone at 7:19 AM on September 26, 2024 [73 favorites]

So, ex-cop does cop stuff, and we're surprised?

Also "Get Shit Done" depends very much where you put the stress. He said he'd "Get Shit *Done*", but really, he'd "Get *Shit* Done".
posted by scruss at 7:25 AM on September 26, 2024 [18 favorites]

One of the things regrettably undercovered by the newsmedia was last year's directive to City agencies to cut their budgets by 5%, three times in one year .
posted by entropone at 7:28 AM on September 26, 2024 [10 favorites]

Adams will never resign.

Hate to agree with this. I have a huge feeling he's going to continue to deny everything and fight it out no matter how damning the charges are, prolong everything, and finish his term or at least most of it. I don't see Hochul removing him but would be absolutely delighted to be proven wrong.

If Jumaane Williams became interim mayor that would be amazing but I don't see the powers that be allowing that to happen. Like Trump, I don't think Adams experiences pressure or shame from constituents or broad public sentiment or even his own party; he is a completely corrupt and empty-headed guy serving himself and other interests.
posted by windbox at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2024 [5 favorites]

Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.

- NYT
posted by R. Mutt at 7:50 AM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

Can't Hochul remove Adams if he's been charged? I think she will act on it once the indictment becomes unsealed and the true extent of how radioactive he is becomes apparent. If Hochul's actions during the Fall of Cuomo™ prove anything, it's that she will jump off any obviously sinking ship.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 7:53 AM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]

Praying that for once Hochul will do the right thing and remove him. Please.
posted by Pitachu at 7:56 AM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]

Looking at these charges, it's pretty clear that Adams is cooked and I will not be sorry to see his ass thrown into cell. ACAB holds true even when the cop becomes a politician.
posted by SansPoint at 7:58 AM on September 26, 2024 [9 favorites]

Plus, it's a political win for her: she gets to look "bipartisan" by removing a corrupt Democratic mayor. She also gets to exert more power over NYC no matter what considering how much of a pain in the tuchas Adams is/was.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 7:59 AM on September 26, 2024 [4 favorites]

Sounds like New York City is having a rough day. Maybe it's time to step back, take a breath, and listen to some Gershwin. You like Gershwin, right? Doesn't that always cheer you up? How about some Rhapsody in Blue?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:14 AM on September 26, 2024 [5 favorites]

RonButNotStupid: Rough day? Oh, no, pretty much the entire city is celebrating. Adams is that rare NYC mayor who has managed to turn almost the entire city against him.
posted by SansPoint at 8:19 AM on September 26, 2024 [30 favorites]

He barely won in the first place, he beat Garcia, 50.4%–49.6% which was by like 7,000 votes. It’s not like he was ever a beloved or popular figure.
posted by star gentle uterus at 8:24 AM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

Praying that for once Hochul will do the right thing and remove him.

She cancelled the congestion pricing thing about 3 days before it was supposed to roll out and about 28 gabillion MTA projects are now on hold as a result. I wouldn't pin your hopes on her.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:30 AM on September 26, 2024 [18 favorites]

I listen to WBGO in the morning, they're a jazz station based in Newark that runs NPR's New York City area news.

They ran some pro-Adams pieces before he was elected but since then every news piece was him making excuses or complaining about something (usually, the migrant situation). Like never once was it "this is what we're doing to address this crisis" instead it was always complaining that the crisis existed in the first place because of other people's actions (usually, the vote to make NYC a sanctuary city).

I get that the migrant issue wasn't an easy issue to handle as mayor but reading this news today... couldn't have happened to a nicer politically-well-connected but ineffectual / unmotivated / incompetent / corrupt / whatever it was guy.
posted by subdee at 8:30 AM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

And the final vote was low turnout after a turbulent ranked choice runup, yes?

Ive seen some ranked choice enthusiasts glum about this outcome. Its hard to console anyone with Arrow’s Theorem (there’s no voting system that always works pretty well).
posted by clew at 8:34 AM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

I looked at the indictment, which contains a lot of text conversations. If I were an editor for somebody writing a TV or video game cutscene script, and I saw that dialogue, I’d say, “c’mon, dial it back, this is just too comically scheming and openly corrupt”
posted by Countess Elena at 8:38 AM on September 26, 2024 [11 favorites]

It's astounding how one of the great cities of America keeps getting ratfucked by a state government that hates it, and a city that seems to follow the general American practice of having someone kinda OK for a few terms then electing one of the worst possible people afterwards.

Which means, in theory, the next mayor of NYC will be one of the good ones. So yay?
posted by sotonohito at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2024 [3 favorites]

And the final vote was low turnout after a turbulent ranked choice runup, yes?

Ive seen some ranked choice enthusiasts glum about this outcome.

From my perspective, ranked choice meant he got closer to losing than he otherwise would have, and his opponents hit on a potentially winning coalition strategy too late for it to be effective because it was a new system to everyone- but my hope is that, during the next election, people will learn from that first one and strategize more effectively.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2024 [13 favorites]

Sotonohito: tbf, I’ve never heard of a great American city that was distinguished by really good government. Seems like they tend to have corruption or incompetence in their recent past and/or present, but they knock along anyway. I don’t know why this is, and since I’m not a Republican, I can’t blame cities in general or ethnic people.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:47 AM on September 26, 2024 [5 favorites]

"Because that's where the money is" is the answer, to quote the late Willie Sutton.
posted by tavella at 8:50 AM on September 26, 2024 [12 favorites]

Seen on Twitter:

the NYPD is, by expenditure, one of the biggest military forces in the world. If he wanted it hard enought he could fight this.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 8:52 AM on September 26, 2024 [4 favorites]

I’ve never heard of a great American city that was distinguished by really good government.

It's a combination of the kind of people willing to run for local government positions and what they have to do within their party to get its support. The era of the "smoke-filled room" is over only in regards to the smoke. Local party machinery hasn't changed much since the Tammany Hall era.
posted by tommasz at 8:54 AM on September 26, 2024 [4 favorites]

I’m surprised this hasn’t yet touched Brooklyn Democrat leadership yet. Kings County leader Hermelyn is a close ally of Adams’.
posted by Captaintripps at 9:03 AM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]

Basically embarrassing press conference here; definitely denying everything.
posted by sagc at 9:06 AM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]

the NYPD is, by expenditure, one of the biggest military forces in the world. If he wanted it hard enought he could fight this.

It’s genuinely unnerving. They’re like a Praetorian Guard out there, and they won’t answer to a mayor that doesn’t please them.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:08 AM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

I joked that I can't wait for Diddy's freak off tape of Eric Adams to be released, without realizing that might not be so far off: Mayor Adams looking at possibility of revoking Diddy's key to New York City

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is looking into what the process would be to revoke Sean “Diddy” Combs' key to the city that was presented to the hip-hop mogul in September.

Adams, who was seen smiling and clapping alongside Combs at the key ceremony in Times Square on Sept. 15, wants to stress there has to be a process for making a decision on the key, since revocation would be precedent-setting.
posted by AlSweigart at 9:15 AM on September 26, 2024 [3 favorites]

@sagc, I watched it live and the heckling was great. At one point someone denouncing Adams was themselves denounced by another person in the audience, calling them a socialist. When they said something to her about being white, she yelled “YOU’RE A SOCIALIST! I’M PUERTO RICAN!”

There was also someone yelling out supposed crime numbers and calling Adams a liar, the person who said he was a disgrace to Black people, and Adams using a 92-year-old as almost a literal shield from the heckling.

Classic New York City!
posted by Captaintripps at 9:27 AM on September 26, 2024 [9 favorites]

Ever since Adams gave a tour of what was clearly his son's brooklyn apartment claiming it as his own, he's been the most entertaining guy in politics in a long time.

I'm sorry but George Santos was far more entertaining.
posted by srboisvert at 9:30 AM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

Steven Cheung is even more entertaining.
posted by Captaintripps at 9:33 AM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]

It's astounding how one of the great cities of America keeps getting ratfucked by a state government that hates it

Is this not the case in every single US state? The City versus the rest of the state thing has been the case for ages.
posted by srboisvert at 9:34 AM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

So, why is Turkey so interested in NYC/Adams? Is there an actual agenda there, or is this just a Buy A Guy, He Might Come In Handy Down The Road situation?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:40 AM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]

Turkish connections: What to know
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:46 AM on September 26, 2024 [13 favorites]

I appreciate you not Let Me Google That For Youing me
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:53 AM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]

An anagram of

"Some Bribery and Fraud"

is

"Fed: Adams = Robbery+Ruin"

or

"Adams: Rubber Friend Yo"
posted by lalochezia at 9:58 AM on September 26, 2024 [5 favorites]

The best, best case scenario for Turkey would have been Adams bucking the trend of former NYC mayor and making it to the presidency. You get a friendly ear and proof that you bribed him. If he hadn't been caught but not been terribly successful, you still have an influential stooge in one of the major party who might push the Democrats to not recognize the Armenian genocide or to look the other way when Erdogan abuses human rights.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 10:38 AM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

> Ever since Adams gave a tour of what was clearly his son's brooklyn apartment claiming it as his own, he's been the most entertaining guy in politics in a long time.

I'm sorry but George Santos was far more entertaining.

Politics is not supposed to be "entertaining", and I'd much rather we go back to politicians who aren't entertaining please.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:44 AM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

Politics is not supposed to be "entertaining"

We may have to invoke Stafford Beer, here.
posted by atoxyl at 10:46 AM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]

Maybe I'm confusing my abusive music producers, but wasn't Diddy well established to be an abusive creep long before the most recent arrest?
posted by sotonohito at 10:53 AM on September 26, 2024 [4 favorites]

So, does the key actually do anything? Like free subway fares? Or special key parties or something?

And he received it in 2023? Lol
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 10:57 AM on September 26, 2024

Or special key parties or something?

Uh, I feel like an oversized key-to-the-city would fundamentally alter the dynamics of a key party. Although I guess it would make him easier to avoid, which is probably a good thing.
posted by axiom at 11:16 AM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

In my considered professional opinion, having read the indictment: he's boned.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:19 AM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

Even far removed from NYC here on the West Coast, it seemed obvious to me that Adams was pretty much a cartoon villain, like as if The Penguin got elected mayor of Gotham. I wonder if people like Nate Silver and Bret Stephens also perceived this (but thought his villainy was actually good) or if they were just simply too unperceptive or addled to accurately see what this guy's deal is.
posted by mhum at 11:29 AM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]

So if his title used to be 'officer" and later 'Mr. Mayor', what is appropriate to call an ex-cop in federal prison?

[Answer: ˙ʇɹɐʇs pooƃ ∀]
posted by stet at 11:30 AM on September 26, 2024 [13 favorites]

The If Books Could Kill podcast bonus episode on Eric Adams was released for free this morning:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

iHeart

pod.link
posted by AlSweigart at 11:30 AM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

the Feds never, never indict until they're absolutely certain they will win

Oh really?
posted by kirkaracha at 11:41 AM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

→ during the next election, people will learn from that first one and strategize more effectively

One can only hope. It's close to what happened in the first and second Scottish assembly elections. Yes, a vastly different system (modified d'Hondt), but it was the first time that anything other than plurality was used. A bunch of Scottish Socialist Party folks got in: they talked a good game because they'd spent years yelling on high streets. Unfortunately, through the course of the first term, it turned out that all they were good at was yelling and precious little else. So come the second election, they almost all got turfed out.
posted by scruss at 12:43 PM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

*Reads the Turkish Connection link* Wait, that's IT? They were nice to him so that he would approve a nice new Turkish consulate in the city? Am I missing something? Our local a-hole priest spent more money than that.
posted by Melismata at 12:54 PM on September 26, 2024 [3 favorites]

like as if The Penguin got elected mayor of Gotham.

From my slight observation, it'd be more like a minion of the penguin.
posted by sammyo at 1:02 PM on September 26, 2024

Wait, that's IT?

Never overestimate the amount of money that corrupt officials sell out the public or abuse their power for. It's almost always in amounts less than $40k.

They make up for it in volume.
posted by AlSweigart at 1:35 PM on September 26, 2024 [15 favorites]

I have annual antibribery/anti corruption training and like 90% of the examples involved bribing local officials to get building permits approved faster. Building stuff is expensive and schedules can balloon, and local officials have a lot of power to put their thumb on that lever.
posted by muddgirl at 2:10 PM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

(also in case you are wondering, the answer to every quiz question is NOT "don't give bribes, bribes are bad." But rather "check with our lawyers before you pay a bribe.")
posted by muddgirl at 2:12 PM on September 26, 2024 [11 favorites]

Mayor Adams looking at possibility of revoking Diddy's key to New York City

Other keys to New York City scheduled for revocation include (checks notes) Charles Lindbergh, Dick Cheney, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Billy Joel.

Joel will retain his key to Oyster Bay.
posted by box at 2:24 PM on September 26, 2024 [1 favorite]

NYC resident here. I am practically favoriting every comment here. His one accomplishment was uniting the city - because the one thing we all agree with, he’s been an awful Mayor.

Don’t get me started on our Governor because I will never forgive her for suspending congestion pricing, but maybe she’ll do the right thing and force him out. I would dislike her a little less.
posted by AMyNameIs at 3:08 PM on September 26, 2024 [8 favorites]

wonder if people like Nate Silver and Bret Stephens also perceived this (but thought his villainy was actually good) or if they were just simply too unperceptive or addled to accurately see what this guy's deal is.

Yes.
posted by symbioid at 3:08 PM on September 26, 2024 [4 favorites]

the one thing we all agree with, he’s been an awful Mayor

Adams’ signature achievement has been to make De Blasio look like a dynamic and engaged mayor of New York.
posted by thecaddy at 3:58 PM on September 26, 2024 [10 favorites]

The thing about Nate Silver's prediction is that if he actually had a list of 5 people, 4 of them would not be the next Democratic president. And Adams would hardly be the first lying crook to be elected president. I get that people don't like Nate Silver, but it's just not as bad a prediction as people make it out to be.

I voted for Garcia, but Adams was actually higher on my ballot than a lot of other folks despite him being a lying cop, because his housing policy was genuinely better than any of the other candidates (except maybe Garcia, I forgot), in that it called for building housing, as opposed to rearranging the deck chairs.

I hope the city council doesn't fuck it up.

I called Hochul to ask her to remove Adams. I expect her not to. I hope that, combined with the congestion pricing thing, gets her successfully primaried for 2026.
posted by novalis_dt at 4:05 PM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

Adams put himself on my shitlist when he told women it was their fault when they were attacked on public transit and further embedded himself into it when he:

tried to defund the libraries

claimed NYC's problems were due to not praying ( by which he meant evangelical Christian prayers).



called a Holocaust survivor a plantation owner....this woman had addressed him as "Mr. Mayor" but did not use fundie baby voice.

I am from Los Angeles: Tom Bradley ( also black, also started out as a cop)was mayor for most of my childhood. Googling tells me that Bradley made a point of engaging with a wide range of his constituents and is fondly remembered by many.

As far as I'm concerned Adams is a DINO.
posted by brujita at 4:27 PM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

Bravely announced a bold new plan to put garbage in containers

Honestly this may turn out to have been his only accomplishment in office, if it sticks.
posted by praemunire at 5:59 PM on September 26, 2024 [7 favorites]

He is right about garbage, he’s right about building, and he is right that a mayor should be more engaged and visible. He’s just the wrong person to be doing the things he’s right about.

And the garbage thing was really Tisch, anyway.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:08 PM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

Is there some past FPP explaining why NYC doesn't have trash cans? Like WTF.
posted by ryanrs at 7:22 PM on September 26, 2024 [2 favorites]

He has said a lot of things about housing, but hasn’t actually done any of the right things, and rent continues to go up, while thousands of housing units sit empty as speculative investment vehicles. Meanwhile he leads the NYPD in destroying the temporary dwellings of homeless people and having all of their worldly possessions hauled away in a dumpster. The cruelty is the point.
posted by Jon_Evil at 7:27 PM on September 26, 2024 [6 favorites]

1t's astounding how one of the great cities of America keeps getting ratfucked by a state government that hates it

Is this not the case in every single US state? The City versus the rest of the state thing has been the case for ages.

It is intentional according to yhe federalist papers to ensure that mechanics (i.e. wage laborers) would have their influence curtailed. Wouldn't want urban workers having equal rights and equal power. The purpoae of the structures in the constitution are to prevent equality and democracy and they are operating largely as intended to this day.
posted by No Climate - No Food, No Food - No Future. at 7:33 PM on September 26, 2024 [5 favorites]

The indictment alleges that Adam changed his phones passcode after being told to surrender it and told the FBI that he forgot the new code as well as "at one point during the voluntary interview, a staffer excused herself to the bathroom, and while in there, deleted the encrypted messaging applications she had used to communicate with Adams”.
posted by autopilot at 10:02 PM on September 26, 2024 [3 favorites]

I mean, much as I hate Adams, I do think that the right against self incrimination includes refusing to give passwords. Deleting apps, like his staffer did, is destroying evidence, but it’s not against the law to make them work for it. They keep forensic techs on payroll for a reason.
posted by corb at 10:32 PM on September 26, 2024 [3 favorites]

I guess he’ll become a Republican now.
posted by waving at 12:34 AM on September 27, 2024 [2 favorites]

Is there some past FPP explaining why NYC doesn't have trash cans?

“A nine-day sanitation strike in 1969 over wages and benefits resulted in the adoption of the black plastic bag as an alternative to the traditional metal bin. Struggling to cope with the mountains of garbage flooding the streets, mayor John Lindsay accepted a donation of 200,000 plastic bags from the chemicals industry as a stopgap containment measure. They were quieter and lighter and New Yorkers loved them. When sanitation workers returned to the job, they were fans too as the bags were much easier to lift and maneuver. In response, city government lifted the trash can requirement and allowed plastic bags.”
posted by 1970s Antihero at 3:34 AM on September 27, 2024 [8 favorites]

I don’t have a source for it, but apparently it also involved the plastics industry lying through their teeth, claiming that plastic bags would block smells and therefore wouldn’t attract rats.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 3:42 AM on September 27, 2024 [4 favorites]

And since '69, the ability to change that system from "mountains of trash bags in the sidewalk" to, say, containerized trash storage on the street has been stymied by the ever increasing car ownership of parking and the way that a lot of decisions about street space gets filtered through NYC's community boards, which skew whiter, wealthier, and more car-owning than the neighborhoods they represent, and have for decades have put the kibosh on improvements to the city that might result in one less parking space.
posted by entropone at 4:36 AM on September 27, 2024 [8 favorites]

The "If Books Could Kill" podcast just released an episode about Eric Adams: "For this month's bonus episode, Peter and Michael explore a recurring IBCK character: New York City's weird, stupid mayor." They mention the cans/bags issue, and suggest it's gone back and forth in the past.

https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod (I think that it was previously only for Patreon subscribers, but it appeared in my freeloader's feed last night.)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:04 AM on September 27, 2024 [1 favorite]

From the Hellsite:

When you're reading the Eric Adams indictment today, take a moment to ask yourself why the Turkish government and its aligned business interests were willing to go so far and spend so much on bribes to make sure that they could develop skyscrapers in NYC.

There's a story to be told about how major US cities and their governments have turned themselves into partners for foreign governments/business interests to develop real estate and make billions in profits that don't benefit anyone who actually lives and works in those cities.

And these foreign interests trying to cash in on big city real estate development are just following the example set by our own home-grown developers who've been bribing mayors, inspectors, and local politicians for decades to build "luxury" developments that charge obscene rents

This is the real economy happening in major cities. This type of corruption helped real estate markets become so oriented towards the wealthy and dominated by interests (foreign & domestic) with no motive other than making huge profits that are never reinvested into those cities.

Local politicians live a wealthy lifestyle thanks to bribes and "perks" from developers who use substandard materials/methods to build "luxury" high rises, condos/offices are empty but everyone profits, and actual ppl keep paying higher & higher rents to sustain the whole grift.

posted by 1970s Antihero at 8:09 AM on September 27, 2024 [15 favorites]

I'm finally reading the indictment and it's a pretty fun/infuriating read.

Some favorite hidden gems:

* the straw donor who was given $1250 by his boss, but only donated $1200, pocketing $50.

* The backbiting between all various Turkish representatives who wanted to be his benefactor.

* From the ACAB side, insisting that when Adams says "We can't take money from anyone whose not a US citizen" he was clearly talking about a straw donor scheme.

* Adams (allegedly) got sick and tired of taking the boat tour of the Bosporus Strait. Maybe time to find another corrupt regime?

It should be pretty easy to put names to some of these cast including the "Adams staffer" who either flipped or had their phone cloned the whole time.
posted by muddgirl at 2:29 PM on September 27, 2024 [2 favorites]

I mean, much as I hate Adams, I do think that the right against self incrimination includes refusing to give passwords.

Again, ACAB, but they aren't saying "Adams refused to give us his password which is evidence of a coverup." Adams apparently told investigators that he deliberately changed his password and made it stronger after he found out he was being investigated, because he suspected his staff would want to delete anything incriminating, but then that he had forgotten the password.

Please, I am begging you, even corrupt self serving narcissist criminals, don't talk to the cops.
posted by muddgirl at 2:43 PM on September 27, 2024 [2 favorites]

Jesus fucking Christ I am so glad this guy has enough money that no public defender will have to deal with his bullshit.
posted by corb at 6:53 PM on September 27, 2024 [3 favorites]

Eric Adams is looking into what the process would be to revoke Sean “Diddy” Combs' key to the city that was presented to the hip-hop mogul in September.

Perhaps it would be easier to just change the password...er, I mean the locks...to the city instead?
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:53 AM on September 28, 2024 [3 favorites]

God, I really hope that SNL will have Chris Redd back for a cameo appearance because his Adams impression was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:51 AM on September 28, 2024

Lawyer and law YouTuber LegalEagle breaks down the indictment.
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:47 PM on October 3, 2024