(The Center Square) — Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams will pay thousands of dollars in fines for hosting a press conference where he used props to attack a political opponent.
The New York City Conflicts of Interest Board said Monday that Adams has agreed to a $4,000 fine in response to a City Hall press briefing in August, during which staffers placed whistles on reporters’ chairs. The stunt was a dig at former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was running for mayor and had faced sexual harassment allegations before he resigned as governor.
“To resolve his misuse of City time, City resources, and City personnel for the campaign purpose of drawing negative attention to one of his opponents in the upcoming election, Adams agreed to pay a $4,000 fine,” the board said in a statement.
Adams told puzzled journalists who discovered the whistles on their seats at the August event that they were meant to protect female reporters covering the former governor’s bid to unseat him as mayor.
At the time, Adams was sagging in the polls in a three-way race with Cuomo and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who ultimately won the mayor’s race. Adams later dropped out of the race.
“Many of these women here are interviewing Andrew Cuomo, and they feel unsafe,” Adams said at the August briefing. “They’re going to have a whistle to help them through it, okay?”
In a deposition, Adams admitted he asked staffers to put the whistle on the chairs “for the purpose of drawing negative attention to an opponent in my reelection campaign during that press conference and when they were required to be performing work for the City.” He said he did not know that the political stunt violated the city’s charter.
“The Mayor cooperated fully with the Conflicts of Interest Board and resolved this matter promptly,” an Adams spokesperson said. “The issue involved routine event preparation by staff and was never intended to support any political activity.
There was no misuse of public funds for campaign purposes,” the spokesperson added. “Mayor Adams takes ethics and compliance seriously, has always held his administration to a high standard.”
The board also fined City Council Member Joann Ariola $2,000 fine for posting a press release last year with the City Council seal endorsing Republican Curtis Sliwa for mayor on her social media account.
