Originally published at: New York mayor Eric Adams indicted in corruption probe - Boing Boing
…
8 Likes
And she replaced a governor who resigned under scandal. The NY Democratic Party needs to get its shit together before the GOP realizes they have a serious opportunity to flip that state. Nominating some actual progressives would help. You’d think they would have learned something from AOC’s success.
27 Likes
Another reminder that this guy was bent from the beginning of his campaign, when he lied about his principal residence being in the city.
It was always clear to me that this was coming, but my political acumen isn’t on par with that of Maureen Dowd, Bret Stephens, or (of course) Nate Silver.
I don’t know if they can do it in time. These are the complacent and lazy clowns who let pathological liar George Santos slip by their oppo research. As I said the other day,
Dislodging them means going after the NY favour bank that put them there in the first place, and that civic institution long pre-dates the party.
15 Likes
I’m certainly not surprised. Well maybe at how quickly this happened. It’s starting to look like being corrupt is a prerequisite for getting the job in the first place.
9 Likes
The investigation began last November, if not earlier.
7 Likes
…never anything to match New York politics
Gotham (n.)
“New York City,” first used by Washington Irving in “Salmagundi” (1807), based on “Merrie Tales of the Mad Men of Gotham” (1460), a collection of legendary stories of English villagers alternately wise and foolish. There is a village of this name in Nottinghamshire, originally Gatham (1086), in Old English, “Enclosure (literally ‘homestead’) where goats are kept.”
(perhaps The Penguin will be next in Gracie Mansion)
4 Likes
Earnest question—what do you mean by NY favour bank?
4 Likes
Basically the corrupt patronage system in the state. One person does someone a favour, it’s deposited against a future favour. If money is involved it’s through legal channels (e.g. bundled campaign donations) or indirect ones (e.g. an appointed official letting a possibly expensive variance slide for a real estate developer). But favours are always expected to be repaid.
This is how you get loser nephews hired to make decisions in the NY state Dem party. This is how someone whose career might have otherwise culminated as an NYPD lieutenant on the take becoming mayor of NYC.
ETA: the allegations against Adams are another example. The Turkish government comps him on flights and hotels on junkets, and then tells him it’s “his turn” to do them a favour by pressuring the NYFD to allow a new consulate building to open despite the department’s misgivings about safety.
10 Likes
And even if the GOP wasn’t a threat, corruption in government is incredibly damaging all on its own.
It’s definitely disappointing to see what’s happening with the leadership of some of the deep blue states. There’s such an incredible opportunity to get good stuff done in places where there aren’t enough Republicans to obstruct them but it’s being squandered. California might not be quite as corrupt but things aren’t great here. Despite (somehow) spending a ton of money we’re not really making any meaningful progress in providing homes for the unhoused, and now our “progressive” Governor is enacting draconian policies requiring municipalities to clear our homeless encampments and arrest folks even if they have nowhere else to go.
10 Likes
Oh, man, don’t get me started. I have no idea how people got the idea that Newsom is progressive. Every time I hear someone describe him that way, I want to scream.
14 Likes
I think his “progressive” reputation coasted for many years on his early support for same-sex marriages when he was mayor of San Francisco, where he actually went as far as issuing marriage certificates when it wasn’t yet legal under state law, and even most Democratic politicians weren’t publicly in favor of it yet. But this is definitely one of those “what have you done for me lately” situations.
11 Likes
Adams has gone in a decidedly different direction when it comes to AOC… 
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/25/nyc-mayor-lashes-out-at-aoc-00181118
Yeah name-calling oughtta help…
12 Likes
Well of course he did. She called on him to resign almost immediately when word of the indictment got out.
7 Likes
If anyone knows about “no-show” jobs, it’s Adams. That’s a favourite favour bank withdrawal.
4 Likes
She actually called for Adams to resign before the indictment was announced because his administration was already clearly under multiple investigations.
13 Likes
The movie Serpico was based on real events; not much (if anything) has changed in the NYPD since. I think there’s still a waiting list to join the organization.
6 Likes
8 Likes
And cops who don’t play along still get harassed by those who do.
I’d speculate that Adams has a whole box of “courtesy cards” from his NYPD days in his desk, but I’m sure he handed out every last one a long time ago.
11 Likes
11 Likes
A corrupt cop in NYC? Sounds like an overused trope. 
5 Likes
