Eric Adams's money

Lawsuits, fundraisers, fireflies. #128

I meant to send a newsletter out last week, but I spent the whole weekend swimming and seeing music and biking around, a much-needed break from the news. I’m back today, with everything that happened since — starting with fundraising news from Mayor Eric Adams.

Late on Friday, a judge tossed out Adams’s lawsuit attempting to get city-funded matching funds. He won’t get any, but his team doesn’t seem to mind. They expect he’ll be given the money at a future board meeting anyway, according to POLITICO.

It’s not like the mayor was here in the city to worry about it. He spent Friday on an unannounced trip to Florida, first to appear on a podcast and then to smoke cigars with some Republicans in Fort Lauderdale.

He has been raising money, allegedly $1 million in one night from wealthy people afraid of Zohran Mamdani, according to Bloomberg. It came the same week as a new political action committee to stop the Democratic nominee was announced, with a goal of raising $25 million — even if they’re aware of the odds.

Also this week, the mayor was named in lawsuits from four former NYPD chiefs who allege they were punished for whistleblowing. The mayor didn’t directly address the allegations, instead focusing on their lawyer who he said stalked him.

From our story:

Essig’s and McCormack’s lawsuits allege that friends and associates of Adams, Caban and former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey were given the unmerited promotions or assignments. McCormack’s lawsuit also names former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks as a top official whose associates earned the allegedly unmerited promotions or assignments.

Veneziano, former Assistant Chief at the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, claims he got on Maddrey’s bad side simply for doing his job — which included working on one investigation into Maddrey and others involving Maddrey’s associates.

Read the full story here.

Other interesting stories

Amazon warehouse workers on Staten Island rally for better conditions [THE CITY]
The council is set to pass a bill mandating the disclosure of Rikers Island deaths [THE CITY]
Catch up on the downstate casino proposals [THE CITY]
Send along suggestions for a fun new map of NYC [THE CITY]
A heartbreaking first person account of the deadly flooding in Texas [TEXAS MONTHLY]
A look at the first half of the year in New York City food [GRUB STREET]
Listen to our latest FAQ, about the election [FAQ NYC]
And listen to a fun podcast interview between Jimmy Van Bramer and Tom Duane [APPLE PODCAST]

A roll of film from the Mermaid Parade. Thanks for reading!