NYC First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright resigns as Eric Adams’ administration suffers more departures: report
New York City First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright reportedly resigned from her position Tuesday after the FBI raided her home in early September, becoming the latest senior official to depart Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as he faces federal corruption charges.
Wright’s reported resignation comes just days after her husband, New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks, announced that he would resign earlier than expected in October. The New York Times, citing sources, says Wright is expected to be replaced by Maria Torres-Springer, who is the current deputy mayor for housing, economic development and workforce.
When asked about the matter on Tuesday morning, the mayor’s office told Fox News Digital that “No announcement is final until and if it is made.”
On Monday, Winnie Greco, the mayor’s director of Asian affairs, also resigned from her role, according to the New York Post.
Her attorney Steven Brill – who did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital – told The City that Greco “officially resigned… on her own volition.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sheena Wright attend Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2023 on Dec. 31, 2022, in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Dick Clark Productions)
The same day, Rena Abbasova, a staffer for Adams who worked in the office of international affairs, was fired from her job, with sources telling Fox News that she was let go because she is the “key cooperating witness” in the federal investigation of Adams.
Senior New York City Hall official Mohamed Bahi also stepped down on Monday. This morning, federal prosecutors announced they unsealed a complaint charging him “with witness tampering and destruction of evidence in connection with a federal investigation of unlawful contributions to a particular 2021 mayoral campaign.”
“If there were no vulnerabilities here, nobody would have to resign,” former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital. “Obviously, a lot of them are trying to make the point ‘oh I was going to leave anyway’ — but these are all the people from [Adams’] tightest inner circle and this is the team he put together to run the city and for them to be leaving prematurely when he would normally be gearing up for re-election, I don’t see how you can argue that this is business as usual. It’s very obvious something heavy is going on.”
MOST NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS WANT INDICTED MAYOR ERIC ADAMS TO RESIGN: POLL
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is flanked by his Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, left, and adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin, during his weekly in-person news conference at City Hall Blue Room on March 5, 2024, in New York. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Adams is facing a five-count indictment on fraud, bribery and corruption charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The mayor, 64, is accused of soliciting illegal campaign donations from foreign entities and falsifying paper trails to cover it up. As part of the plot, he allegedly defrauded taxpayers for $10 million over the past decade and frequently took free or steeply discounted vacations bankrolled by his foreign benefactors.
Adams has said in a video statement that any charges filed against him would be “entirely false, based on lies,” and he insinuated that his criticism of the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies made him a target for retaliation.
ERIC ADAMS IS LIKELY TO FACE MORE CHARGES
New York City Mayor Eric Adams arrives at federal court after being charged with bribery and illegally soliciting a campaign contribution from a foreign national, in New York City, on Oct. 2. (REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs)
The mayor was quoted by The New York Times as saying in a statement that will be circulated Tuesday that “We are grateful for First Deputy Mayor Wright’s years of service to the city and all she has done to deliver for children, families, and working-class New Yorkers.”
“She is an exceptional leader who assembled a strong team and constantly demonstrated a bold vision for this city,” he reportedly added.
The mayor’s office says on its website that Wright served in the administration since January 2022, first as deputy mayor of strategic initiatives and then as first deputy mayor starting in January 2023.
“During her time in the administration, she helped launch the first phase of the MyCity portal, a one-stop-shop where New Yorkers can easily apply for and track city services and benefits. She has helped the city deliver on key planks of the Blueprint for Child Care & Early Childhood Education in New York City — most notably, clearing a backlogged waitlist for vouchers and allowing families of 36,000 children to apply for low-cost, high-quality child care,” her bio reads.
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Wright, a graduate of Columbia University and Columbia Law School, also “previously served as the first female president and CEO of United Way of New York City,” it added.
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams, Michael Ruiz and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
