Adams' Bed Stuy Neighbors Not 'Surprised' by Charges, Object to Budget Cuts, Rats

By Adam Daly, Brooklyn Paper

Outside Mayor Eric Adams’ Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone on Thursday, neighbors backed calls for his resignation.

The mayor is accused of bribery, soliciting illegal campaign donations, and wire fraud as part of an alleged years-long relationship with Turkish officials.

Emerson Iannone, 24, who lives down the block from Adams’ Lafayette Avenue property, expressed a lack of surprise regarding the indictment, viewing the alleged corruption in the current administration as pervasive across the city and broader U.S.

In a video message released Wednesday, Adams claimed the case against him is “based on lies” and suggested he had been made a “target” for his criticisms of the Biden administration’s support for New York City’s migrant crisis. Iannone said Adams’ rebuttal was indicative of “who he is as a mayor” and that he is “not a good reflection of the city.”

“Should he resign just because of this? I think he should have resigned for a lot of other things,” Iannone told Brooklyn Paper. “After the budget cuts to parks and libraries, I’ve wanted him to resign for a while.”

Meanwhile, Allisa Zladimir was shocked to learn that Adams owns the Lafayette Avenue brownstone that she passes every day with her dog.

“I’ve never seen him,” Zladimir said. “I live here, and I walk down this street every day, and I’ve never seen him.”

Whether Adams resides at the property was a subject of scrutiny during his 2021 mayoral campaign, with the then-candidate even inviting reporters to tour it in a bid to dispel rumors that he was commuting from New Jersey.

While Zladimir was surprised by the news of Adams’ property ownership, the indictment did not catch her off guard.

“Everyone around him was going down, so I assumed it was inevitable at some point,” she said, noting that he was not her “candidate of choice” during the last mayoral election and that he has done little to win her over, pointing to his cutting of funding to several city services last year to address the cost of the migrant crisis — many of which have been partially restored.

“It doesn’t sound like he has any plans of stepping down, but it’s only day one, so we’ll see,” she added.

Another resident of Adams’ block, a 44-year-old woman who wished to remain anonymous, did not hold back in her criticism of the mayor, stating that his resignation is “a long time coming.”

“I think enough has gone on, on and off the record, as we’re starting to find out,” she said of the indictment. “So, I think it’s great; hopefully, I won’t continue to have to be part of the people paying his salary. I think it would be in his best interest, and it would be prudent for him to step down so they can begin to search for someone somewhat better.”

The woman, who works as an artist and poet, also criticized Adams as a neighbor and his handling of rat infestations at his property. The mayor has been waging a war on rats in the city but has faced five rodent violations at his property since he took office in 2022.

Last month, Adams had a $300 ticket dismissed after telling the court that the property next door caused the infestation on the block. Despite these claims, Adams’ neighbor of five years said she regularly sees rats around the property and will even take a B38 bus to avoid walking by it at night.

“He just owns it for street cred,” she said. “He could use it as affordable housing, or he could gift it in kind to the city and have it rehabilitated rather than own property that’s causing people to have to walk in the street because of the rats.”

At a press conference outside of Gracie Mansion Thursday, Adams criticized prosecutors and the U.S. government and said he would not resign as he addressed the charges.

Adams, who appeared to be in good spirits, surrounded himself with local religious leaders as he addressed reporters just minutes after the 57-page indictment was unsealed.

“We are not surprised, we expected this, this is not surprising to us at all,” Adams said of the indictment, reiterating his stance that he is being “targeted” by the federal government. “I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments … I ask you to wait and hear our side to this narrative. From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city. My day-to-day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do.”

Adams — the city’s second Black mayor — took office in 2022, after narrowly winning a ranked-choice primary the year prior. A former police captain, Adams is a centrist Democrat who won the mayor’s race on the promise of reigning in crime and has continued to make that the centerpiece of his mayoralty over his nearly three years in office.

One unnamed supporter outside of Gracie Mansion Thursday said the feds were just “after Adams” for addressing the city’s migrant crisis and assured Hizzoner that the Big Apple still has his back.

“We love you,” she told the mayor. “We know the truth.”

Additional reporting by Kirstyn Brendlen

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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