New York City’s First Deputy Mayor, Sheena Wright, resigned on October 4th after being under federal investigation for a month. She is the sixth high-ranking official in the scandal-hit New York City administration to step down.
According to the New York Post, Wright was “forced out” as Governor pressured Mayor Adams, who was indicted last week, to clean up the internal affairs of the City Hall. Therefore, she had to resign even though she has not been indicted and her case is not related to the bribery charges against Adams. When asked on October 4th if Wright was leaving, Adams did not give a direct answer, only stating that it is important for him that the core deputy mayors and other officials can fulfill their duties to maintain the normal operation of the City Hall. Wright’s resignation was effective the same day, and the successor has not been announced yet.
PIX11 News reported that Wright was also upset that her recently married boyfriend, David Banks, was forced to retire, even conducting an early handover. The two of them had a wedding over the weekend in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, sparking speculation that they were trying to use spousal privilege to avoid incriminating each other, but David Banks denied this.
Aside from Sheena Wright and David Banks, other high-ranking City Hall officials who have recently announced their resignations include Police Commissioner Edward Caban, Chief Legal Advisor Lisa Zornberg, Health Department Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, and Public Safety Senior Advisor Timothy Pearson.
Our attempts to contact the Mayor’s office for comments have not received a response by the deadline.