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| Ingrid Lewis-Martin is escorted into a Manhattan courtroom for an arraignment on bribery charges, Dec. 19, 2024. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY |
| From Betsy Combier, Editor: re-posted from NYC PUBLIC VOICE When I was growing up in New York City, everyone I knew, and the media, put the New York City Police Department on a separate level of Good People. The 19th precinct on 67th Street in Manhattan was located across the street from where we lived. There was something very comforting about that, especially since the Russian Embassy was also on the same block, and the press about Russia at the time was all about the Cold War and imminent death by nuclear war. In school we were drilled in how to hide under our desks to save our lives when a nuclear bomb hit us. Today, that would be called "misinformation" at best. But there were no computers in my school at that time and no cable TV. The media were the New York Times, and TV channels 2, 4, 7, 11, and 13. If you wanted to see a movie you went to the theater playing it and bought a ticket, usually just under $4-$5.00. Currently, in New York City, the police are not considered by many people to be the compassionate heroes and heroines of all New Yorkers. Far from it. We have seen Black Lives Matter become a dominant theme with the noise of racists blaming the "brutal" police for all that is wrong in society (see below); "stop and frisk" to be put into place, and now the widespread corruption of the Adams administration. I am hugely against this argument. New Yorkers are possibly the least racist population in the world, because we have more people from every country of the world than anywhere else. Yes, you can fight me on this, but this is my opinion and I'm sticking to it. I never heard the word "race" growing up. If someone has a different skin color or country of birth or ancestry, my twin sister, I, and my parents never noticed. We are human beings (my opinion, not having any experience with a takover by foreign non-earth beings) and we follow the policy that everyone has equal rights to speak and earn rewards such as money and prestige if they work hard and honestly for it. This philosophy has been trashed and destroyed by those who want money and prestige the easy way - through threats of violence powered by revenge and yes, misinformation. I will say it again: most New Yorkers are not racist and do not believe in discrimination, never have and never will. Yet those closest to the rampant rage caused by misinformation and hate, the police, are now, today, a cesspool of corruption, nepotism, sexual harassment, and all the other actions so often prosecuted by the police. This comes from the top: Eliot Spitzer (remember him?), Andrew Cuomo (and see here for the nursing home scandal), Kathy Hochul, and NYC Mayor Eric Adams. They had the power to change this road into all things bad and destructive or good and beneficial to the citizens of New York City and State. They chose the bad over the good, and then had the Democratic Party machine vote into office only those who would support their hate and acts of violence and revenge. Power corrupts.
One of the examples of the weaponization of New York justice arising from hate and revenge of non-white populations was the Daniel Penny story. Daniel Penny tried to protect subway riders from danger and was put on trial with a possible sentence of 15+ years because he was white, and the man threatening subway riders was black. Luckily, and I mean that literally, the jury found Penny not guilty and exonerated him. For the first time in many years in NYC a white man without a racist bone in his body, won. In my opinion, we need to get NYC Mayor Eric Adams voted out of office along with Governor Kathy Hochul, the heads of all the City Agencies must resign or be fired, and we need a huge broom to sweep this trash into the garbage. We need to get a new NY State Comptroller who can hold people accountable for their actions with the power to prosecute them and take their salaries and pensions away permanently. We need to rid our City of those who hold the power now and yesterday. They have prevented a free and honest government of the people - not just the rich - from putting Citywide policies in place that are not policital favors for Big Pharma or any other Big Donor here in the US or abroad. Just sayin' Betsy Combier betsy@advocatz.com Editor, ADVOCATZ.com Editor, ADVOCATZ Blog Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter Editor, Parentadvocates.org Editor, New York Court Corruption Editor, National Public Voice Editor, NYC Public Voice Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials Multiple Probes Into Eric Adams' Inner Circle Persist, Even As Mayor Escapes Prosecution The City, by andA slew of Adams' closest allies have had their homes searched by law enforcement, leading to 11 resignations and 3 indictments - so far.Hours after a federal judge tossed the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams, the mayor stood on the steps of Gracie Mansion and crowed, “Today finally marks the end of this chapter.” Not quite. Law enforcement investigations of some of his closest aides continue apace, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and city Department of Investigation actively delving into allegations of pay-to-play at the top levels of the administration. Several Adams allies have had their electronic devices seized; some have had their homes searched. At least 11 have resigned for reasons related to the investigations, and three have so far been indicted. The web of investigations includes prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the Manhattan U.S. attorney and the Brooklyn U.S. attorney, and involves everything from Adams’ team members using their influence to smooth over bureaucratic obstacles or award lucrative city contracts and hefty municipal leases in exchange for personal or political benefits. Some of those under the law enforcement microscope include some of the mayor’s closest friends and allies, many with histories that date back decades to his time as an NYPD cop, as a state senator and as Brooklyn borough president. Adams has even likened one of them, former chief advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, to his “sister.” How far that loyalty now extends is an open question. Adams has repeatedly portrayed the federal case against him as politically motivated, a point he underscored Wednesday by urging all New Yorkers to read FBI Director Kash Patel’s book “Government Gangsters,” a conspiracy-riddled tome that alleges “deep state” actors sought to bring down President Donald Trump. The mayor has yet to make similar claims about the various investigations of his inner circle. Instead on Wednesday, in remarks that acknowledged how his indictment may have shaken New Yorkers’ confidence in him, Adams said he “trusted people that I should not have, and I regret that.” The mayor did not name names. Who might Adams go to the mat for? And who might he throw under the bus? Here’s a look at the allegations and investigations into former officials that Adams installed in city government: Former Chief Advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin Lewis-Martin, one of the mayor’s long standing associates, resigned from her spot as Number Two to the mayor in December just before she was indicted by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg on charges of using her influence to help two businessmen deal with Buildings Department issues. The DA alleged the businessmen, in turn, provided her son with $100,000 toward the purchase of a Porsche. She has denied wrongdoing and the businessmen claim the money was a loan. Her troubles, however, are far from over. Prosecutors revealed last week a sitting grand jury was continuing to hear evidence about her and her co-defendants. Lewis-Martin had her phone seized by the DA and was served a subpoena by the Manhattan U.S. attorney in September when she stepped off a flight from Japan at JFK International Airport. She was accompanied on that trip by Jesse Hamilton, another longtime Adams associate the mayor had put in charge of city leases. Hamilton’s phone was also taken by the DA. Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, did not return THE CITY’s call seeking comment. Jesse Hamilton, Deputy Commissioner of Real Estate Services Hamilton, the city official who oversees the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) unit that determines where city agencies lease private sector office space, is currently under investigation by both the DA and the city Department of Investigation regarding whether he steered a lucrative lease to an Adams donor. The investigation is focused on evidence that DCAS initially planned to lease space in a downtown Manhattan building at 250 Broadway, but then Hamilton intervened and 14 Wall St. became the building of choice. That landlord, a billionaire named Alexander Rovt, had raised $15,000 for the mayor’s legal defense fund. Also under scrutiny is the infamous trip to Japan, which included Hamilton, Lewis-Martin and Diana Boutross, a Cushman & Wakefield real estate broker DCAS relies on to negotiate leases with landlords whose phone was also seized. None of the parties have yet to divulge who paid for the trip. Hamilton has twice skipped City Council hearings that delved into city lease deals. He remains employed by DCAS. Hamilton did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment.  Deputy Mayor Philip Banks III, left, and Schools Chancellor David Banks. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY The Banks Brothers In an early morning sweep in September, law enforcement seized the phones of Schools Chancellor David Banks, his brother, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III, and the chancellor’s wife, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. All have since resigned. They also confiscated the electronic devices of the Banks’ younger brother, Terence, in an investigation that appears to tie all three brothers to a tech company called Saferwatch. The firm was lobbying both Phil and David Banks to get their “panic button” app placed in the phones of school safety officers. The app would send out system-wide notices in the event of a fire or active shooter. At the time, the company also hired Terence Banks’ consultant firm, Pearl Associates. Their app was soon placed into a pilot program in five city schools. Saferwatch also received a subpoena. Xavier Donaldson, a lawyer for David Banks, and Timothy Sini, a lawyer for Terence Banks, did not respond to THE CITY’s requests for comment. Phil Banks’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined comment. Former senior mayoral aide Timothy Pearson Pearson, a longtime friend and associate of the mayor from their days in the NYPD that the mayor appointed to a vaguely defined job as “senior advisor,” had his phone seized by the feds and DOI back in September. Weeks later he resigned. As the wave of asylum seekers flooded New York City, the mayor put him in charge of monitoring public safety and anti-fraud issues at migrant shelters. Since then he’s been accused in four civil lawsuits of sexually harassing a female subordinate and retaliating against male subordinates who complained about his behavior. In one lawsuit an employee recounted Pearson discussing one of the contracts the city had awarded for a migrant shelter. During the conversation, he complained that other city staffers involved in the procurement process were somehow personally benefitting, stating, “I have to get mine. Where are my crumbs?” In February a DOI investigation concluded Pearson had committed misconduct when he attacked two security guards who demanded his ID at a Midtown shelter and then lied to the NYPD to have the guards arrested. Pearson’s lawyer, Hugh Mo, declined to comment. Rana Abbasova, former director of protocol in Mayor’s Office for International Affairs Office In November 2023 federal and DOI investigators raided the homes of Adams’ campaign finance directors, Brianna Suggs, and mayoral aide Abbasova. Days later City Hall fired Abbasova. At the time, reports emerged that she was cooperating with law enforcement. She is listed as “Adams staffer” throughout the mayor’s indictment, allegedly helping to arrange illegal straw donations and travel perks for the mayor provided by officials with ties to the Turkish government. Rachel Maimin, an attorney for Rana Abbasova, did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment. Former mayoral aides Mohammed Bahi and Ahsan Chughtai In December 2021, Bahi and Chughtai — then campaign volunteers who later became the mayor’s liaisons to the Muslim community — arranged $10,000 in straw donations for the campaign via an Uzbek businessman, according to Adams’ indictment. After Adams became mayor, the businessman requested his help dealing with a problem with the building department and later thanked the mayor profusely for his assistance.  Former Mayor Eric Adams aide Mohamed Bahi leaves Manhattan federal court after being charged with witness tampering and destruction of evidence, Oct. 8, 2024. |
In July law enforcement seized devices belonging to Bahi and Chughtai, and both later resigned from City Hall. In October Bahi was arrested, charged with orchestrating the illegal donation scheme and then trying to cover his tracks. The criminal complaint alleged that when he learned the FBI had visited the donors, he informed the mayor and the mayor told him he was confident they would not cooperate with law enforcement.
In February prosecutors said Bahi had agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy count. His actual plea has yet to take place. Bahi’s lawyer, Derek Adams, did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment.
There’s no public record of Chughtai being charged.
Winnie Greco, mayor’s liaison to the Asian community
Greco, who has served as an unpaid campaign fundraiser for Adams since 2018, had two homes she owns in The Bronx, as well as an Adams campaign office she worked at in 2021, raided by the FBI early last year — shortly after THE CITY and Documented reported on suspicious campaign donations there.
In October she resigned from her paid government job, where she had served as Adams’ Asian Affairs Advisor since January 2022.
Greco is also the subject of a probe launched in November 2023 by the city’s Department of Investigation into whether she used her government position for personal gain, including by allegedly requiring a subordinate to do unpaid renovation work at one of her Bronx homes.
Greco also lived for at least nine months in a taxpayer-funded suite at a Queens hotel owned by developer and Adams fundraiser Weihong Hu, an arrangement that’s also under investigation by DOI. Greco’s attorney and City Hall have previously said she paid for the room, but have not provided evidence.
Hu was indicted in February on corruption charges after she allegedly paid kickbacks to the head of a nonprofit organization that was providing re-entry services for former inmates.
Hu held multiple fundraisers for Adams in 2021 and 2023, raising tens of thousands of dollars in donations. A number of contributors to a June 2023 fundraiser attended by Adams and Greco previously told THE CITY they were each reimbursed for their $2,000 donations by members of Hu’s family.
Such a reimbursement would be illegal, but there’s been no public suggestion that Hu’s indictment is connected to her fundraising for Adams. Hu has pleaded not guilty.
An attorney for Greco declined to comment, and Hu’s attorney in the criminal case didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Edward Caban, police commissioner
Caban resigned in early September after serving for just over a year as NYPD commissioner, stepping down just days after he and his twin brother’s homes in Rockland County were raided by the FBI.
The office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District is reportedly looking into whether the brother, James Caban — who was fired from the NYPD in 2001 for abuse of authority — was benefitting from the commissioner’s position by offering to protect nightclubs from police enforcement as a paid consultant.
A former Brooklyn bar owner who said his establishment was frequently targeted by police came forward just days after Edward Caban’s resignation to allege that a City Hall staffer had connected him to James Caban for assistance with dealing with the local precinct. The bar owner, Shamel Kelly, said Caban asked him for $2,500 to help smooth things over, but that he refused to pay.
The phones of multiple high-ranking police officials, including those overseeing enforcement of nightclubs in certain precincts, have been seized as part of the federal probe, according to published reports.
Separate attorneys for Edward and James Caban didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
Eric Ulrich, building commissioner
Ulrich was the first top mayoral aide to be implicated in scandal. He resigned his position as commissioner of the Department of Buildings in November 2022 and was indicted by the Manhattan DA about a year later, charged with taking bribes from a variety of individuals seeking favorable treatment from City Hall.
Prosecutors charged that Ulrich had accepted cash and Mets tickets from a tow truck firm seeking to expand its work hauling away vehicles off city highways, took payments from a Queens restaurateur who was battling with buildings inspectors, and accepted a discount apartment from a developer trying to get City Hall to evict a homeless shelter near one of his properties.
The case against Ulrich is pending. His attorney, David Cohen, did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment.
Jeffrey Maddrey, NYPD chief of department
Maddrey, the highest uniformed officer in the NYPD, had his home raided by federal officials in January, following a complaint filed by a female subordinate that he had coerced sexual favors from her in exchange for overtime opportunities.
The subordinate, former Lt. Quatisha Epps, also alleged wider overtime abuse at the department during Caban’s tenure in a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Maddrey has denied the claims, acknowledging only that he and Epps had an “office fling.” His attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Adams elevated Maddrey to Chief of Department and repeatedly defended the appointment despite a number of misconduct allegations against Maddrey over the past decade.
In late 2021, Maddrey was accused of ordering that the arrest of an ex-cop be voided, just hours after the ex-cop allegedly threatened three kids with a gun. A video investigation by THE CITY detailed the unusual lengths that Maddrey went to intervene in the case, which a Civilian Complaint Review Board probe subsequently determined to be abuse of authority.
Maddrey eluded discipline after Caban ruled the CCRB didn’t have purview over the incident.
In 2015, Maddrey was investigated by the NYPD after he got into a physical tussle with an underling he was having an affair with, and allegedly lied to the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau about it.
He escaped that jam with the loss of 45 vacation days despite initially being charged with fireable offenses.
Editorial: The free press & the NYPD — The Daily News and others exposed the cop overtime scandal
Look no further than the reporting of Daily News correspondents Graham Rayman, Rocco Parascandola and Tom Tracy who last month uncovered the NYPD overtime scandal that OT is being directed to a large number of cops at HQs, not police out in the field.
Their work blew open the dirty inside secrets, showing that the No. 1 highest earner among 35,000 uniformed cops was Lt. Special Assignment Quathisha Epps, who just happened to be an aide to Jeff Maddrey, who was chief of the department until a few days ago.
Exposed, Epps put in for retirement on Dec. 16 and two days later she was suspended. She then charged that Maddrey had been demanding sex in exchange for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of OT she had pocketed. That’s when Maddrey quit.
The salacious details ascribed to Maddrey are horrid. And so is the scandal that OT is apparently being funneled, not to crime fighting and hardworking cops freezing their behinds off patrolling the streets and subways, but to paperpushers like Epps with cushy jobs back at 1 Police Plaza. There are hundreds of OT recipients who need to be carefully reviewed.
The city Department of Investigation is probing, as is the Manhattan district attorney, as are federal prosecutors. Everyone except the World Court it seems. As they all should be, for this is theft from the taxpayers and theft from ordinary cops keeping us all safe.
New Commissioner Jessie Tisch has already dumped NYPD Chief of Internal Affairs Miguel Iglesias, who should have found out about this and didn’t, or even worse, did know and let it slide. Tisch, who is in the midst of a cleanup, may also be investigating a crime scene.
And back to what Trump is spouting about; this cascade started with the vigorous free press of our reporters and their competitors at the other news outlets covering the NYPD. The system as envisioned in the First Amendment, that the government cannot interfere with the freedom of the press, is working precisely as the Founders thought.
As for Maddrey, this guy had skated on ethical charge after ethical charge, always protected by the old boy’s network. We find out now that he was sworn in as a licensed New York State attorney in September. That means he won approval from the court system’s Committee on Character and Fitness. And he managed to complete law school and study for the bar (which he passed this spring) while also being the NYPD’s only 4-star chief, the top uniformed job. Was he also collecting OT along the way?
With the ouster of Maddrey and Iglesias, Tisch’s crackdown on OT is rightly starting at the top. She has clean hands, having just arrived a month ago. Anyone who was wrongly dipping into the OT kitty for themselves or others has to be found and exiled from the high command, if not fired outright.
Overtime is sometimes a necessary expense, but it must be used for the public safety function of the NYPD, not to fatten the wallets of the undeserved. That is the mission of the NYPD, just as it is the mission of the Daily News and the rest of the press to watch them.
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| New York Police Officer Quathisha Epps arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court on January 31, 2011. (Jefferson Siegel for New York Daily News) |
A NYPD lieutenant in Police Headquarters who earned more than $400,000 last year has put in her retirement papers, following a report by the Daily News noting she claimed to have worked more than 1,600 hours of overtime for a hefty sum of $204,000.
Lt. Special Assignment Quathisha Epps, with a salary of $406,515, was the highest earning cop in the entire NYPD in fiscal year 2024, city payroll records show, even though she worked in an administrative capacity for Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey. Sources say her earnings are under review, and late Wednesday Epps was suspended from her position.
Those earnings were detailed in The News’ report, which also reported a significant number of the top 400 overtime earners have administrative assignments as opposed to patrol responsibilities. For example, 13 of the top 400 earners were assigned to the police commissioner’s office.
Police sources say since The News’ Nov. 16 report, the department has embarked on a crackdown on administrative overtime. In addition, precincts are under increased pressure to track overtime. Borough commanders held meetings on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12. The NYPD press office did not reply to several emails sent by The News Tuesday and Wednesday about Epps’ retirement and the overtime crackdown.
Epps put in papers for a “vested separation retirement” on Monday, NYPD personnel records show. She is slated to leave Jan. 14, the records show.
Epps joined the NYPD in July 2005, records show, which means she is leaving seven months short of her 20th year – the year full pension benefits kick in – and will have a slightly reduced pension as a result. It was not immediately clear why she was retiring early. She also risks not getting a so-called “good guy” letter, which would allow her to carry a firearm in retirement, something that is an important prerequisite for security work.
A News analysis of her salary shows her pension could be at least $150,000 a year tax-free and possibly close to $232,000, the payroll records show.
Payroll records show Epps put in 1,626 hours of overtime earning $204,453 over her regular salary of $172,893. She also earned $26,169 in “other pay.” In fiscal 2023, Epps claimed 1,003 hours of overtime, earning $114,210, or half as much as she earned in fiscal 2024.
In fiscal 2022, she claimed 496 hours of overtime, earning $49,561, the records show.
The rank of lieutenant special assignment is a discretionary promotion that does not have to go through civil service procedure under NYPD rules.
On Monday night at a town hall meeting on the Upper West Side, Mayor Adams said he directed Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to do a “desk by desk” analysis of cops, saying cops are “masters at hiding out somewhere.”
The comment drew a rebuke from Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry, who said the force is burned out and drained by waves of retirements. “Shuffling cops’ assignments or squeezing them for even more mandatory overtime is only going to drive more away,” Hendry said.
Lou Turco, president of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, declined to comment. Epps did not reply to a call and a text message.
Under the city’s Police Pension Fund rules, a police officer’s pension is based on their final year of service.
The amount of overtime earned cannot exceed 20% of the previous year.
In Epps’ case, if she received a standard pension, she would receive 50% of her final year regular pay plus 20% more than her fiscal 2023 overtime earnings.
Her fiscal 2024 salary of $172,893 plus 20% in overtime more than she earned in fiscal 2023 – $137,052 – would put her at a total salary for pension purposes at about $309,000.
A standard pension is calculated at 50% of the final salary tax-free, so her estimated annual retirement payment would be roughly $155,000.
Epps is a cancer survivor, so if she put in for a disability pension, it could add up to substantially more – 75% of her final year salary – or $232,000.
