Ahead of a re-election bid, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is being accused of showing favoritism toward former New York Police Department (NYPD) friends in a new lawsuit alleging corruption, New York Daily News reports.
The bombshell lawsuit comes from four former high-ranking NYPD chiefs — James Essig, Matthew Pontillo, Joseph Veneziano, and Christopher McCormack — who claim they were forced to retire after complaining that Adams was placing his “unqualified” friends in prestigious positions, allegedly using bribes to secure the seats. Several former and current NYPD heavyweights were listed as defendants in the suit, including former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, and NYPD Chief of Department John Chell.
The suit alleges that the four men conspired with Adams to bring about their career demise; however, attorney Sarena Townsend says the claims from Essig, Pontillo, Veneziano, and McCormack are an overreach. “The overarching theme is whistleblower retaliation,” Townsend, who is representing all four 2023 retired officers, said. “These are people who were in the department for 30 to 40 years who knew what was right and wrong. What Adams and his group wanted to do was cut corners, do things against policy, do things that were unconstitutional.”
Essig, the highest-ranking member of the group, alleges the corruption started in early 2023. He remembers that Maddrey, a longtime friend of Adams, was attempting to get friends placed into senior units in the department’s Criminal Task Force Division. When Essig went to Caban, who resigned in 2024 amid corruption allegations also tied to Adams, to complain, Caban allegedly pushed back against the complaint, saying, “Do you have a problem with this?!”
He also claims Caban was engaged since he was allegedly “selling promotions” to cops for approximately $15,000 and mentioned him being under federal investigation in the suit.
According to Politico, the alleged retaliation against Pontillo was personal. The suit alleges the mayor, Caban, Chell, and Maddrey forced retirement after the former chief voiced concerns with the increasing number of police chases under Chell’s leadership and the improper usage of body-worn cameras.
After each member left the force, City Hall gave NYPD managerial staff a pay increase that the four former chiefs missed out on.
Both Caban and Banks denied the allegations against them, with Banks saying a list of specific names should be requested; however, it “doesn’t exist.” A spokesperson for the mayor’s office, Kayla Mamelak Altus, defended the NYPD’s integrity, noting that Adams once served on the force, and said the lawsuits would be reviewed. “The Adams administration holds all city employees — including leadership at the NYPD — to the highest standards, and our work at the department speaks for itself: crime continues to topple month after month both above and below ground, with our city seeing the lowest number of shootings in recorded history,” Altus said in a statement.
“That is no coincidence — it’s thanks to the Adams administration’s laser focus on public safety.”
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