Philip Banks III resigns

Philip Banks III was appointed as Deputy mayor for public safety in January 2022. He previously served 28 years with the NYPD. he became chief of department before stepping down in 2014.

He left in the middle of restructuring at City Hall and various federal Investigations into the mayor’s administration. There are severals reports of other officials also leaving which include Rana Abbasova, who has already been terminated, Winnie Greco and Mohamed Bahi have resigned themselves.

Bank alongwith Adams’ administrators were raided by the feds. Philip Banks III is the brother of David Banks who is a Schools Chancellor. he said last month that he would retire at the end of the year. He then later announced that he would actually leave in the mid October. Philip and David Banks had their phones seized by federal agents on 4th September along with David Banks wife Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, who is also planning to resign. Philip and David Banks another brother, Terence Banks, was also visited by the investigators.

Adams has not yet confirmed the reports of Wright planning to resign. He just said that personnel changes are done in an organised manner.

Banks’ attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement on Monday, the federal authorities informed them that he is not a target of their investigation and Nothing about his resignation changes that fact.

Adams in an interview with NY1 said,”He sat down with me around six months back and stated that, ‘Look, I’m looking for transition, Eric.’ And I said, ‘Listen, we’ve got a couple of things in the pipeline. Can you please hold on and get them done?’ And he was willing to do that. “A long-time great  public servant – from the chief of department to the deputy mayor of public safety, all the initiatives he’s doing with removing the ghost cars off our streets. I wish my good friend well.”

“No one stays in the government forever. People transition in and out,”Adams has said.

Adams was accused by the federal charges of bribery, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals last month. He pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence and ability to continue running the city.

So far, no one else has been charged with a crime, but the feds said it is ‘quite likely” they will file a superseding indictment, which could include more charged against the mayor and other defendants.