Eric Adams: the New York City mayor charged with corruption

Controversy and accusations of corruption have followed Eric Adams in his rise to the mayoralty of New York City. Now he has been charged with a federal crime.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams in the city hall rotunda in New York City
(Image credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

When New York City mayor Eric Adams was 15, he was arrested and beaten by a police officer – a traumatic event that inspired him to join the force, where he rose to become a captain before deciding to enter politics. It was “a powerful anecdote” that resonated with New Yorkers during Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign, says The Economist

Nearly four years on, “Hizzhoner” is mired in “dishonour” as the first-ever sitting New York mayor to be charged with a federal crime. Adams denies charges of “wire fraud, bribery and receiving illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals”, and has vowed to remain in his post. But amidst “a rising chorus” of calls to resign from fellow Democrats, his tenure at City Hall looks precarious.

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Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.

She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.

Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.

She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.