NYC deputy mayor for public safety resigns from Adams administration

New York City’s deputy mayor for public safety, Phil Banks III, resigned Monday in the latest fallout from the corruption scandal engulfing the administration of Mayor Eric Adams.

“We spoke yesterday and we spoke again this morning and he stated he wants to move on to other things in his life,” Adams told NY1. “I wish my good friend well.”

In addition to Phil Banks, two other staffers resigned from the Adams administration on Monday, according to City Hall: Winnie Greco, the mayor’s liaison to the Chinese American community, and Mohammed Bah, who worked in the city’s Community Affairs Unit.

Rana Abbasova, the mayor’s director of protocol for international affairs who served as his liaison to the Turkish community, was also terminated, per City Hall.

Greco’s home was searched by federal agents earlier this year, and Abbasova has been cooperating with federal investigators in the case against the mayor, according to sources.

Banks’ brother, David Banks, had previously announced his resignation as schools chancellor. First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, David Banks’ wife, is arranging her departure from the administration.

Phil Banks had his phones seized last month as part of a federal investigation into city contracts of how the police department enforced nightlife regulations. David Banks and Wright had their phones seized as well.

Phil Banks, at one point the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD, resigned from the department in 2014 amid a different corruption scandal during the prior administration. Federal prosecutors at the time named him an unindicted coconspirator.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with bribery and fraud. He is resisting calls for his resignation.

“New Yorkers are saying keep doing the job you’ve been doing,” Adams told NY1.