AILSA CHANG, HOST:
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing a crisis. As federal investigations into him and his administration grow, subpoenas and search warrants targeting everyone from the chancellor of schools to the mayor himself have left the New York political world in shock. From member station WNYC, Elizabeth Kim reports.
ELIZABETH KIM, BYLINE: Stepping into office on Day 1, Mayor Adams exuded a new brand of confidence that New Yorkers hadn't seen in some time from City Hall.
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ERIC ADAMS: When the mayor has swagger, the city has swagger.
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KIM: He even insisted on having his own walk-on music before every public event.
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ALICIA KEYS: (Singing) In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of...
KIM: But three years into his term, at least four federal investigations are swirling around the Democrat and members of his administration. And they've forced Adams to lose some of that swagger.
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ADAMS: One of the distractions is answering the same question over and over and over and over again like you're going to get a different answer. I'm just not going to do that.
KIM: Adams' problems began 10 months ago, when FBI agents searched the home of his top fundraiser as part of a federal probe. It's been widely reported to focus partly on illegal donations from Turkish government officials. There was more bad news days later.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And we have just learned that FBI agents seized New York City Mayor Eric Adams' phones and an iPad.
KIM: Adams hasn't been accused of wrongdoing, but the investigations are touching key members of his inner circle. His police commissioner, chief counsel both abruptly stepped down, while the schools chancellor says he plans to leave at the end of the year. All this after federal agents took the phones of several top officials, including the police commissioner, schools chancellor and two deputy mayors. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a fellow Democrat, who's not related to the mayor, says the investigations are affecting Adams' ability to lead the city.
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ADRIENNE ADAMS: Because of the magnitude of the situation and the number of investigations going on right now within the administration, the distractions are still going to be there.
KIM: Adams is running for reelection next fall, and there are signs that swagger might not be enough to win him a second term. He's facing historically low approval ratings, and there are at least four Democratic primary challengers, which is unusual for an incumbent mayor in New York City. During the city's recent African American Day Parade, I take the temperature of Black voters, who make up the core of Adams' base. Charlie Saunders is a 79-year-old retired construction worker sitting on the stoop of his building in Harlem. He says he voted for Adams, but now he's disgusted with him.
CHARLIE SAUNDERS: Every day is a new scandal. I can't take it. I can't take it. He needs to clean house and go forward.
KIM: But some, like 60-year-old fitness trainer Herman Smalls, say New Yorkers shouldn't rush to judgment.
HERMAN SMALLS: Last I checked the man was innocent until proven guilty, innocent.
KIM: He says law enforcement and the media have historically treated Black politicians unfairly.
SMALLS: As a community, we need to stand with them until they've had an opportunity to state what the situation is. Don't take no word out of the FBI. Come on, no.
KIM: Mayor Eric Adams says he's been instructed not to talk about the investigations. No New York City mayor has ever been indicted.
For NPR News, I'm Elizabeth Kim in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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