By Daniel Afanasyev
New York City police commissioner Edward Caban announced his resignation Thursday, a week after having his home raided by federal agents as part of a criminal investigation. Caban served a little more than a year as the department’s first Hispanic police commissioner, following the resignation of Keechant Sewell, who served as the first woman police commissioner for 18 months.
In an internal email sent to members of the NYPD, Caban said he would be stepping down due to being unable to perform his duties as a result of the distraction caused by the investigation.
“The NYPD deserves someone who can solely focus on protecting and serving New York City, which is why—for the good of this city and this department—I have made the difficult decision to resign as police commissioner,” Caban wrote in the email.
Later that day, Mayor Eric Adams accepted his resignation at a press conference, advocating that he made the right choice.
“We concluded that this was the best decision at this time. I respect this decision and I wish him well,” Adams said.
Adams announced that in his place, Thomas Donlon, a former FBI and counterterrorism official, would take over as interim police commissioner.
This investigation appears to center on the nightclub security business owned by Caban’s twin brother James Caban, and whether the brother’s business had benefited from his family connection with the NYPD, according to the New York Post.
That same week, in what appears to be a separate inquiry, the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited and confiscated the phones of multiple high ranking members of the Adams administration, including First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Schools Chancellor David Banks (Wright’s fiance), Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III, consultant Terence Banks, and sought information from Timothy Pearson, a senior advisor to Mayor Adams. This investigation appears to focus on a bribery scheme involving Terence Banks’ consulting firm and city contracts, according to the New York Times.
All this comes in addition to the existing federal investigation currently ongoing into Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign, and whether it had conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal donations and expedited the approval process for a new Turkish consulate building, as The Vanguard previously reported.
In yet another unrelated inquiry, in February the FBI searched the homes of Winnie Greco, the mayor’s special adviser and director of Asian affairs, in connection to Greco’s fundraising events for the mayor having potentially used illegal straw donations, according to THE CITY.
In a private call with senior staff, Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol shared concern over the effects the investigations appear to be having on the mayor’s administration.
“This is not good. There’s a lot going on in the city and the thing that I’m most concerned about is city leadership being distracted,” Iscol said in a recording obtained by the Associated Press.
At a time in which the Adams administration is already facing a historic low approval rating, the several investigations it is the subject of may significantly hurt its chances for reelection in the upcoming mayoral election.
NYC Comptroller and 2025 mayoral candidate Brad Lander, who is also one of the most vocal critics of Mayor Adams, said in a statement to AP that “New Yorkers want to know their leaders are focused on their problems and not their own problems, and the staff of agencies also need focused leadership helping them confront the challenges New Yorkers have.”
Other candidates who have thrown their hats into the ring for the upcoming elections are former comptroller Scott Stringer, NYS Senator from Brooklyn, Zellnor Myrie, and Jessica Ramos, a NYS Senator from Queens, who officially joined the race a day after police commissioner Caban’s resignation.
In her campaign launch video, Ramos said, “You’ll never have to wonder who I’m working for or who’s paying me. We need to bring that trust back to City Hall.”
In another blow to the Adams administration, chief legal counsel Liza Zornberg abruptly resigned from her post late Saturday night for unnamed reasons. Coming on the heels of the recent federal probes into high-ranking members of Adams’ inner circle, Zornberg’s departure appears to further destabilize the current administration, especially at the critical juncture in which it came.
In what is shaping up to be a contentious upcoming election, Adams’ opponents have repeatedly drawn on the multiple investigations swirling over his administration, calling into question the integrity of its key members and their loyalty to the people they represent. While all of the investigations Adams is currently facing serve as a detriment to his reelection chances, Adams is still by far the most well-financed and well-connected candidate, with some $4 million in total campaign funds, and is favored to offer a significant challenge as the incumbent.