“For Responsible Leadership in a Crisis.” “For an End to Inequality.” “For a Secure Future.”
These are the words adorning the 2021 New York City mayoral campaign picket signs of Eric Adams, who is at the center of an FBI investigation into possible corruption in the mayoral office.
As NYC Mayor Adams is now being investigated for pressuring the New York Fire Department (FDNY) to overlook building and fire safety codes in the 35-story Turkish Consulate General in New York City, his past campaign posters seem ironic.
I’m not sure if any other U.S. politician has been scrutinized in the last three weeks as much as Adams. Faced with an ongoing FBI investigation into the construction of a $300 million skyscraper funded by the Turkish government and a slew of other allegations, Adams has had an eventful November.
Considering the 2025 New York City mayoral elections are on the horizon, large-scale allegations of corruption are not a great way to maintain a dominant standing in the polls. With all that being said, here is a breakdown of what is happening with Adams.
On Nov. 12, the New York Times published an article that the FBI had filed a federal criminal inquiry to investigate allegations claiming Mayor Adams had pressured the FDNY to overlook several known safety concerns ahead of the September 2021 grand opening of the Turkish Consulate in New York, a $300 million skyscraper funded by Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the investigation, 10 days before the building’s grand opening, FDNY reported several fire safety violations and would only allow the building to open under a temporary certificate of occupancy if the building was able to have an alarm system that complied with city building regulations prior to its opening. A week later, a fire safety consultant inspected the Turkish Consulate and found the building still did not have a fire alarm system that complied with its building codes for a certificate of temporary occupancy.
Considering the fact that the building is 35 stories tall and neglects several safety codes that could potentially endanger the lives of many in the event of a fire, the property was granted a temporary certificate of occupancy and the grand opening took place three days later. It does not take a seasoned law enforcement officer to deduce that something did not quite add up with the grand opening of the Turkish Consulate.
Prior to the public FBI investigation into Mayor Adams, FDNY fire chiefs had informed the FBI that they were aware of the building’s safety concerns, but felt coerced and pressured to overlook them in order to preserve their professional careers. According to Jim Walden, the attorney representing former FDNY Chief of Fire Prevention Joseph Jardin, “it was abundantly clear to my client and is now abundantly clear to the FBI that the people responsible [for the building’s approval] felt as though if they didn’t do it they were going to be fired.”
While there is nothing directly supporting the idea that Adams threatened the jobs of fire department officials, according to the mayor’s texting records, he did, in fact, ask FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro to expedite the fire safety approval process of the Turkish skyscraper. A sole text, however, is not enough to indict Adams for engaging in politically corrupt activities with the Turkish Government, as fire department officials themselves state that such requests are not uncommon.
At the time of the 2021 event under investigation, Adams was serving his second term as Brooklyn borough president and recently positioned himself as the frontrunner in the upcoming New York City mayoral election. Considering Adams’s elevated position of political influence, it is reasonable to assume that his request would be treated with more gravity than that of another mayoral candidate.
For this reason, it is not far-fetched to believe the Turkish consulate would want to cultivate a relationship with Adams in order to get past building regulations. As for Adams, a political candidate looking for donations to support his campaign for office, it is difficult to determine what could have been offered to convince him to use his position of power unethically.
Well, believe it or not, it is speculated that the Turkish government bribed Mayor Adams to overlook the fire safety violations of the Turkish consulate. According to the New York Times, on May 7, 2021, KSK construction, a Turkish-owned Brooklyn building company, held a fundraiser for the mayoral campaign of Adams that would raise almost $92,000 for the campaign in a day. Even in the years prior to running for the mayor, there has been speculation regarding the relationship between the Turkish consulate and Adams since the consulate paid for him to take a trip to Turkey in 2015.
Although KSK construction was not directly involved with the construction of the Turkish Consulate, it is an example suggesting that Adams’s campaign donors received preferential treatment. This idea is only bolstered by reports that have come out in the weeks since the FBI investigation into the Turkish consulate building in New York City was announced. On Nov. 20, reports came out that a high-end sushi restaurant that had previously donated to Adams’s mayoral campaign was given similar preferential treatment when faced with FDNY safety inspections.
Looking at the photos from his 2021 mayoral campaign, it is pretty ironic to see a man currently being investigated for overlooking building regulations and endangering the lives of the citizens of New York to be surrounded by picket signs that say he will lead New York City to “a secure future.”
Zachary Badalamenti, FCRH ’25, is a journalism major from Oakland, Calif.
