(Bloomberg) -- New York City’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks resigned, becoming the sixth senior member of the Adams administration to either step down or announce plans to leave amid federal probes engulfing City Hall.
“We spoke yesterday and we spoke again this morning, and he stated he wants to transition to other things with his life and he doesn’t want this to be a constant burden on the work that we’re doing,” Mayor Eric Adams said Monday in an interview with NY1.
Banks’ departure comes shortly after Adams was indicted on corruption charges and investigators seized the phones of members of his inner circle, including those of Banks and two of his brothers. At least three other probes have drawn in additional members of his administration, resulting in a slew of resignations.
Banks had been a high-ranking official in the NYPD before abruptly resigning in 2014. Though he’s denied wrongdoing, Banks was an unindicted co-conspirator in a wide-ranging federal public corruption investigation into favor-trading. He’s mostly avoided the public eye since Adams — a former police captain — tapped him to be the first deputy mayor for public safety in more than two decades.
Banks submitted his resignation on Sunday, saying that he and Adams had differed on a number of issues including public safety, according to a person familiar with the matter. His brother, Chancellor of New York City schools David Banks, is also stepping down. City Hall said last week that he would leave office Oct. 16.
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