(The Center Square) — Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces a new federal lawsuit from a former interim NYPD commissioner who claims the Democrat ran the nation’s largest police department like a “criminal enterprise” and retaliated against critics of his mismanagement.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by former interim New York City Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon, claims the NYPD was “a racketeering enterprise,” under the leadership of Adams and other members of his administration, including Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, Chief of Department John Chell and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, who were also named in the complaint.
“Senior leadership had abandoned lawful governance and engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent,” Donlon’s lawyers wrote in the 251-page complaint. “The Defendants engaged in a coordinated pattern of racketeering activity that was deliberate, sustained, and directed from the highest levels of the NYPD and City Hall.”
The lawsuit also accused Adams and other defendants of engaging in “a calculated and deeply personal act of vengeance,” including the “false” arrest of Donlon’s wife during a traffic stop where she was unable to produce her vehicle’s registration.
“This was not a mistake. It was a deliberate abuse of power designed to punish and intimidate Donlon for exposing their misconduct,” Donlon’s lawyers wrote. “This coordinated humiliation was a direct warning: the NYPD Defendants would stop at nothing to silence and personally destroy Donlon, even if it meant violating the constitutional rights of his spouse.”
A City Hall spokeswoman dismissed the claims in lawsuit as “absurd” and predicted that the legal challenge will ultimately be dismissed by the courts.
“These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective,” Adams’ press secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement. “This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer’s expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner.”
Adams tapped Donlon to head the NYPD in 2024 after then-commissioner Edward Caban resigned the post following an FBI search of his home. Caban hasn’t been charged with any crimes.
Donlon’s lawsuit comes after four former NYPD officials filed a similar legal challenge earlier this month, claiming corruption and cronyism by top brass in the city’s police department. It also comes as Adam’s battles for reelection with polls showing him trailing behind Democratic nominee and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent.
