Mounting probes test Adams’ trademark loyalty to those in peril

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams, whose loyalty to embattled aides deepens as their problems mount, is facing one of the most difficult decisions of his term: whether, and how, to force out a police commissioner caught up in an expansive federal investigation.

The challenge is exacerbated by Wednesday’s solemn Sept. 11 commemoration, which NYPD leaders past and present customarily attend at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.

Adams is skipping the memorial on account of his recent Covid diagnosis, an aide said, continuing a week of high stress and low morale in city government.

His bigger problem: what to do about NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, whose home last week was raided by federal investigators. They seized his phone and requested phones from his twin brother, James, chief of staff and others in the police department. Caban is refusing, so far, to leave the job — and has support from fellow Latinos who question why he is being pushed out when so many other troubled aides appear to be getting a reprieve.

Adams and Caban met privately Monday morning to discuss the possibility of the commissioner stepping down, according to one person granted anonymity to speak freely about a private talk. A few hours later, Caban did not attend a planned meeting with police brass, two people with knowledge of the sitdown said, and he did not show up to a Sept. 11-related event attended by other city higher-ups.

Yet by Tuesday evening Caban had not resigned.

“He’s dug in. He is challenging Adams to fire him,” Ken Frydman, the CEO of Source Communications and a longtime consultant for city police unions, told POLITICO. “It’s up to Adams to decide if he remains the PC.”

Most members of the mayor’s inner circle think Caban should leave his role — though two of his closest advisers are in disagreement.

Frank Carone — the mayor’s former chief of staff who remains a close friend and adviser — believes Caban can no longer effectively lead the storied police department. Chief Adviser Ingrid Lewis Martin, known for her own fierce brand of loyalty, wants Caban to stay. Their opposing views were conveyed to POLITICO by a person with knowledge of both, who was granted anonymity to freely discuss private conversations.

The mayor carefully avoided defending Caban at a media availability Tuesday, while calling into question POLITICO’s and other outlets’ reporting that the commissioner is expected to soon resign.

“I am City Hall, and any orders that come from City Hall to make a personnel shift is going to come with my blessing,” he said. “And it did not come from my blessing and I’m not aware of anyone else communicating, doing such.”

But abandoning a top appointee contradicts the mayor’s MO of sticking by friends under pressure and giving second chances. Throughout the sprawling federal investigation, he has repeatedly defended aides while saying he is cooperating with authorities. No one has been accused of wrongdoing.

“Eric Adams is very loyal to his people,” said a friend of the mayor who was granted anonymity to speak about his thinking. “Until somebody is proven guilty, Eric Adams is probably the most loyal person you can have in government.”

There’s a racial element to the decision too. Caban is the first Latino police commissioner in the city’s history. He was caught up in a federal investigation last Wednesday along with other top Adams administration figures, including Deputy Mayors Phil Banks and Sheena Wright, Senior Adviser Tim Pearson and Schools Chancellor David Banks — all of whom are Black.

But only Caban has faced high-profile calls for his resignation, and it’s only Caban who the mayor has met with to discuss the possibility of parting ways.

“They’re making him the scapegoat. I am concerned,” said City Council Member Diana Ayala, a Democrat who, like Caban, is Puerto Rican.

“It is suspicious to me,” she added, “that so many members of his administration have a microscope on them, and yet we’re laser-focused on the one Latino without fully understanding what the investigation is about.”

Among Caban’s allies, there’s a sense he’s being held to a different standard. “He’s hurt,” said a friend of Caban who has texted with him in recent days, and was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. They said he is not going to resign, and they’re encouraging him not to.

Caban, for his part, is keeping a low profile. While he skipped a Sept. 11 event on Monday, he delivered a brief speech at police headquarters to Jewish leaders later in the day, but left without taking questions. He is expected to attend a ceremony marking the anniversary of the terror attacks Wednesday, Gothamist reported .

The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

There’s political logic to removing Caban. He occupies an extremely high-profile position leading a massive law enforcement organization, and even the appearance of impropriety is problematic. It’s a position more well-known to the public than others held by top officials who have also been ensnared in the federal probes. And Adams’ frequent defense is that he knows the importance of the law because he served in the NYPD for more than two decades.

A cloud of corruption around the leader of the NYPD threatens to undermine Adams’ rhetoric — which is already on shaky ground, given countless cases of members of law enforcement blatantly violating the law.

However, removing Caban could further harm Adams and would likely appear to some as an admission of guilt, or at least a suggestion that Caban is likely to be charged by the feds.

POLITICO and other outlets have reported the investigation involving Caban involves whether his twin brother James financially benefited from his brother’s position as police commissioner, but the full scope of the probe is not yet known.

There also may be a pressing practical consideration regarding Caban: how the feds’ seizure of his phones might impact his top-level security clearance to view federal intelligence materials.

The clearance allows Caban to be briefed on specific threats against New York City that NYPD detectives and the FBI investigate through the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Asked Tuesday if Caban’s security clearance should be impacted, Adams said he did not believe it should be, and noted he was briefed by the task force the day before.

But a former NYPD executive who has held government security clearances said the FBI’s execution of the warrant for Caban’s devices means that “a judge has decided there is probable cause to believe the New York City Police Commissioner's phone contains evidence of a federal crime.”

“Let that sink in,” the former high-ranking cop said. “If you are the NYPD Police Commissioner — charged with protecting New York City and running highly-sensitive counterterrorism and intelligence divisions to protect residents, Wall Street, the U.N. and countless other targets that are some of the most sensitive in the world — you can't do your job if you don't have a clearance because the FBI considers you a suspect in federal crimes.”

The former cop added that such logic especially applies if the suspected crime involves “influence peddling or anything that makes you susceptible to blackmail.”

“It's a nonstarter in terms of national security,” the person said.