The first deputy mayor and chancellor of Eric Adams’s school recently tied the knot on Martha’s Vineyard. Federal agents have taken both of their phones into custody.
This past weekend, prominent figures in City Hall sought solace from the several federal investigations that have beset Mayor Eric Adams’s administration at Martha’s Vineyard wedding.
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As per three individuals acquainted with their arrangements, Sheena Wright, the first deputy mayor of Mr. Adams, and David C. Banks, the chancellor of the schools, tied the knot on the island in Massachusetts one day after Mr. Adams entered a not-guilty plea to charges including bribery and fraud.
They lived in a house together for years before getting married, which was rumored to have been planned for some time. However, legal experts suggested that it may also enable Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright to assert spousal privilege, which grants them the ability to refuse to testify against one another in court if needed.
Federal agents paid a visit to the couple’s Harlem residence at the beginning of September. Investigators appeared to be pursuing a different investigation from the one that led to Mr. Adams’s indictment since they confiscated the phones of both Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright.
Two persons who are aware of the couple’s preparations said that Ms. Wright’s mother became unwell, delaying their anticipated July wedding. The third individual said that the pair had been planning their wedding for some time before the seizure of their phones. The trio requested anonymity to maintain their friendship with the couple.
Professor Erin Murphy of the New York University School of Law suggested that Saturday’s wedding may assist Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright weather the investigations, regardless of when they had initially intended to tie the knot.
She pointed out that spousal privilege is “very broad” and subject to very few legal limitations.
Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright might have potentially claimed a common-law marriage, according to Ms. Murphy.
According to Murphy, “This strikes me as two people in a long-term committed relationship who perhaps chose to formalize that relationship for legal clarity or to ensure access to the privileges the state gives to marriages.”
The notion that the pair was getting married to claim spousal privilege was refuted by the three individuals who were aware of the wedding arrangements.
People claim that Mr. Banks calls Ms. Wright the love of his life in both public and private settings.
“These people have been in love and engaged for a while, and the Vineyard is their happy place,” one of the individuals expressed, “They need a little bit of joy.”
The mayor’s office produced a schedule that showed that he was not at the wedding. Rather, to bolster support among a critical base, Mr. Adams—who has vehemently rejected the allegations made against him—visited two historically African churches over the weekend.
At the Emmanuel Presbyterian Reformed Church in the Bronx on Sunday, the enthusiastic throng was informed by the mayor—who has frequently relied on the Black church for political messages in friendly settings during times of crisis—that his faith-centered itinerary was nothing out of the ordinary.
Mr. Adams claimed he had a straightforward message for New Yorkers who might have lost faith in his leadership abilities: “Watch me.”
He reiterated his adamant promise that he would not step down, saying that the tale of “our ancestors,” who “know what hard times are,” had increased his determination. Mr. Adams remarked, “You hear the small group of loud people saying, ‘Well, he should step down.'”
“No, I’m going to step up,” he said, to tremendous cheers from the packed cathedral.
On Sunday, he wasn’t the only one to speak politically in a church.
The current mayor of Albany, Zellnor Myrie, a state senator seeking the mayoralty, seemed to take issue with the mannerisms of individuals such as Mr. Adams at Bedford Central Presbyterian Church in central Brooklyn.
“They come to our churches, they shake our hands, they walk in our parades,” stated Mr. Myrie. “But when it comes time to heal our suffering, our leaders remain silent.”
“Do not let anyone use our suffering as a spectacle,” he later implored the assembly.
Since the news of the mayor’s indictment came, several state and municipal officials—among them Mr. Myrie—have joined an expanding chorus of people calling for the mayor’s resignation.
The investigation that resulted in Mr. Adams’s indictment is only one of at least three that have been conducted on City Hall employees. Since the beginning of September, four senior executives have announced their resignations, including Mr. Banks, who will leave at the end of the current year. A bribery inquiry involving Mr. Banks’s brothers, Philip B. Banks III, the deputy mayor for public safety, and Terence Banks, the owner of a consulting business, are looking into him and Ms. Wright.
The governor, Kathy Hochul, who has the authority to remove Mayor Adams from office, has merely stated that she will give the matter some thought before making a decision.
She talked about Mayor Adams and the probe with other state officials at the recent meeting.
Following a ten minutes discussion between the governor and the mayor, she stated to the public that the citizens of New York “deserve to know that their municipal government is working effectively, ethically and in the best interests of the people” and that Mr. Adams needed to “show the city that he can lead in that manner.”
Ms. Hochul did not expressly address the prospect of Mr. Adams’s removal on the call. According to a person informed on the discussion, she did, however, express her desire for the mayor to take action to win back the trust of the people of New York, including changing part of his top management staff.
It wasn’t immediately apparent if Ms. Hochul had named certain officials that she thought should be fired.
The mayor’s office spokeswoman refrained from commenting on either Ms. Hochul’s remarks or Mr. Banks and Ms. Wright’s marriage.
On September 28, 2024, the mayor’s staunchest supporter, the Rev. Al Sharpton, begged Ms. Hochul to keep Mr. Adams in place since he has maintained that he has been unfairly targeted by political rivals.
At a regularly planned event organized by his National Action Network, Al Sharpton declared, “We’re going to see where the evidence is, but we are not going to stand by silently and let Governor Hochul not know that some of us are saying: ‘Do not change the process and the precedent.'”
Mr. Sharpton has calmly responded to the probe. He voiced worry on Thursday that the mystery may harm national Democrats in the run-up to the November election.
