The NYC mayor’s brother is set to quit his City Hall security job

NEW YORK (AP) – The brother of New York Mayor Eric Adams is leaving his volunteer position as the mayor’s security adviser, a position he took after controversy over initial plans to hire him for a higher-paying city job.

In an interview that aired Friday, Bernard Adams said PIX11 News That he will finish at City Hall next week. The mayor then publicly thanked his brother for his role in the Adams administration, now more than a year old.

“When it comes to protecting my life, I have never trusted anyone more than my baby brother,” the mayor said in a statement tweeted by a spokesman.

Both brothers are retired New York Police Department officers. Bernard Adams went to work as a parking administrator at a Virginia university as his brother, a Democrat, went into New York politics — winning a state Senate seat, the Brooklyn borough presidency and then the 2021 mayoralty.

A few days after being sworn in, Eric Adams appointed his brother As Deputy Commissioner of Police, a move that raised questions about how much authority the then-new commissioner of the NYPD would have. Afterwards, the mayor offered his brother $210,000 a year The mayor heads the security detailStaffed by police officers and a team under the NYPD.

City law prohibits public employees from using their position for “any financial gain, contract, license, privilege or other private or personal benefit, direct or indirect,” for themselves or a related person, including a sibling. But the City Conflict of Interest Board can issue a waiver.

While seeking such a waiver, the Adams administration decided instead to act as a Bernard Adams Senior Security Advisor for $1 a year. Previous mayors have also appointed relatives to volunteer positions.

At the time, Eric Adams said that bringing his brother into his administration was “never about the money” but about having a trusted hand with security.

Bernard Adams told PIX11 News that he helped put together a strong security team for his brother and now plans to enjoy more time with his family.

He said leaving City Hall “is definitely bittersweet because I love him, but I’ll still call him, big brother, when I need to talk to him.”