Adams Embraced 'Swagger' as His Political Style Signature. Prosecutors Suggest It Resembles Hubris More Closely.
A confidante of Adams shared with POLITICO that “That same profile is what’s keeping him alive right now," referring to the mayor currently dealing with federal corruption charges.
TroibNews 
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not have the privilege of wealth or connections during his upbringing. However, over the years, he has developed a distinct trait: swagger.
This signature charisma, which he has often celebrated to the point of inspiring a Saturday Night Live parody, has begun to resemble hubris — a hubris that prosecutors highlighted last week when they unveiled a criminal indictment against him.
Adams’ modest beginnings instilled in him a strong ambition, compelling him to join the police force despite being assaulted by its officers as a teenager. As a young Black man, he challenged the predominantly white police ranks and later demanded a pay raise as a state senator, exclaiming, “Show me the money!” His path also included frequenting upscale nightclubs and boasting: “You hang out with the boys, you gotta get up with the men.”
Last week, a federal prosecutor alleged that Adams crossed “bright red lines,” claiming he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish gifts from Turkish businessmen.
Just after this shocking revelation, making Adams the first modern New York City mayor to face criminal charges while in office, he appeared outside Gracie Mansion beaming with his trademark smile and giving a thumbs-up, even as the implications of his brashness loom large.
Mayors of New York City are accustomed to mingling with the affluent and influential. They manage budgets exceeding $100 billion, similar to those of companies whose CEOs earn significantly more than the mayor's salary of $258,750. This reality, combined with the persistent allure of powerful individuals seeking to gain favor, has historically led some leaders astray.
“Every mayor of New York City has the joy of hanging out with billionaires,” remarked Ravi Batra, who has known Adams for years and was a commissioner on the state’s ethics panel during Adams’ time as a lawmaker. “The corrupting affection of motivated billionaires who do business with New York City takes a toll on every moral leader. One might think, why aren’t I getting a piece of the action? Why don’t I have a private jet for crying out loud? Why am I having to fly economy?”
In response to questions about his travel habits, Adams shared that he has long sought to explore the world beyond New York City, a desire that traces back to his teenage years.
“When I graduated from high school, I wrote on the back of my high school picture a hundred places that I wanted to see,” Adams explained during a City Hall press conference. “My parents never left the country at all. Probably everybody on my block never left the country at all, so to be able to have visited a substantial number of those countries that I wrote on the back of that graduation photo back in ‘78 and to look through that list and see that many of them I touched and many of them I visited, it means a lot. It’s a personal hurdle.”
However, this aspiration does not fully account for the legal troubles Adams now faces.
When he ran for mayor in 2021, the city was emerging from an extended COVID-induced decline. He emphasized crime reduction and a return to normalcy as key components of his platform, showcasing his personality prominently during his campaign — a stark departure from his predecessors, Bill de Blasio and Mike Bloomberg, who were not particularly charismatic.
“There’s a temptation to conclude, I think, that personality is something New Yorkers are really looking for, rather than it being something they’ll tolerate,” noted former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has faced his own significant downfall and, like Adams, represented parts of Brooklyn.
Weiner further pointed out that Adams’ rise from humble beginnings in the outer boroughs to becoming a national and even global figure signifies a considerable adjustment.
“In his case, it could have been a really animating insecurity,” Weiner added.
A close associate of Adams, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, underscored that Adams’ bold demeanor stems from his upbringing and has been an asset throughout his career with the NYPD.
“When you don’t grow up with a lot, you tend to show off,” this individual said. “He’s braggadocious, he’s grandiose, he’s in your face. He learned as a lowly sergeant that that’s how you get on TV. That’s part of it. The other part of it is, he enjoyed it.”
The source also highlighted that projecting such a persona has political advantages. “That same profile is what’s keeping him alive right now,” they said.
His predominantly Black and immigrant working-class constituency can resonate with a leader who takes pride in showcasing his material and political achievements, but the durability of this connection is still uncertain.
“The argument for swagger is like a version of the prosperity ministry. It’s prosperity politics. It’s saying my constituents want to see me doing well,” explained Basil Smikle, a seasoned political strategist. “It’s good when you’re engaging in retail politics. It’s great on a campaign. But when you start governing, you have the lives of the voters in your hands. And the swagger doesn’t overcome these very specific concerns of the voters.”
A spokesperson for Adams did not respond to requests for comment.
Long before the indictment surfaced, visible signs hinted at the blurred line between swagger and hubris in Adams’ behavior.
Shortly after taking office, he appointed Phil Banks as deputy mayor for public safety, despite Banks being named in a federal corruption investigation during de Blasio’s administration as an unindicted co-conspirator — a significant detail likely not overlooked by federal prosecutors.
In addition to charging Adams, the Southern District is now investigating Banks and his brothers, including schools Chancellor David Banks and consultant Terence Banks, along with former NYPD Commissioner Eddie Caban and his twin.
During the initial stages of his administration, Adams also selected Frank Carone as his chief of staff, despite ongoing concerns regarding Carone’s business dealings.
Moreover, Adams maintained a social connection with Zhan and Robert Petrosyants, both of whom pleaded guilty in 2014 for their involvement in a check-cashing scheme to bypass money-laundering regulations.
Carone, however, defended Adams' reputation for swagger as a misinterpretation stemming from his commitment to revitalize the city post-COVID.
"He’s a humble, introverted human being who takes his job really, really seriously," Carone stated. "The reason that we did not consciously discourage that early on was when we took office, it was still COVID. We were in masks in our first meetings in City Hall."
Adams has also expressed that his loyalty to friends has been misconstrued, drawing upon his own teenage legal issues as context for his approach to mentorship.
“I have a criminal history,” he remarked in February 2022. “I am about giving people an opportunity. I mentor people every day. You would be surprised at the types of people that I mentor to put them back on track.”
Loyalty is a quality that historians may identify as pivotal to Adams’ beleaguered legacy.
He has remained steadfast in his support for longtime associates like the Banks brothers, the Petrosyants, and Timothy Pearson, a senior advisor currently under scrutiny for allegations of sexual harassment and incidents involving a security guard.
However, this loyalty does not always extend to members of his own party. For instance, Adams criticized President Joe Biden last year, stating he “failed” the city by not providing sufficient federal assistance for migrants.
Norman Siegel, a civil rights lawyer and a long-time friend of Adams, described the indictment as painfully disappointing, attributing part of his current situation to Adams’ loyalty to others.
“I thought I knew him,” Siegel reflected. “My sense is you pick up a bad habit, no one says anything about it and you keep doing it.”
Siegel contends that Adams’ loyalty is influenced by his upbringing and suggests he has remained committed to allies like Banks and Pearson due to their shared challenges in a predominantly white police force.
“I grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, and we are taught to be loyal, but there’s no such thing as blind loyalty,” he stated.
“He needed guardrails,” Siegel added. “It appeared, reading the indictment — if everything there is accurate — that they didn’t have those guardrails.”
Emily Johnson for TROIB News
This signature charisma, which he has often celebrated to the point of inspiring a Saturday Night Live parody, has begun to resemble hubris — a hubris that prosecutors highlighted last week when they unveiled a criminal indictment against him.
Adams’ modest beginnings instilled in him a strong ambition, compelling him to join the police force despite being assaulted by its officers as a teenager. As a young Black man, he challenged the predominantly white police ranks and later demanded a pay raise as a state senator, exclaiming, “Show me the money!” His path also included frequenting upscale nightclubs and boasting: “You hang out with the boys, you gotta get up with the men.”
Last week, a federal prosecutor alleged that Adams crossed “bright red lines,” claiming he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish gifts from Turkish businessmen.
Just after this shocking revelation, making Adams the first modern New York City mayor to face criminal charges while in office, he appeared outside Gracie Mansion beaming with his trademark smile and giving a thumbs-up, even as the implications of his brashness loom large.
Mayors of New York City are accustomed to mingling with the affluent and influential. They manage budgets exceeding $100 billion, similar to those of companies whose CEOs earn significantly more than the mayor's salary of $258,750. This reality, combined with the persistent allure of powerful individuals seeking to gain favor, has historically led some leaders astray.
“Every mayor of New York City has the joy of hanging out with billionaires,” remarked Ravi Batra, who has known Adams for years and was a commissioner on the state’s ethics panel during Adams’ time as a lawmaker. “The corrupting affection of motivated billionaires who do business with New York City takes a toll on every moral leader. One might think, why aren’t I getting a piece of the action? Why don’t I have a private jet for crying out loud? Why am I having to fly economy?”
In response to questions about his travel habits, Adams shared that he has long sought to explore the world beyond New York City, a desire that traces back to his teenage years.
“When I graduated from high school, I wrote on the back of my high school picture a hundred places that I wanted to see,” Adams explained during a City Hall press conference. “My parents never left the country at all. Probably everybody on my block never left the country at all, so to be able to have visited a substantial number of those countries that I wrote on the back of that graduation photo back in ‘78 and to look through that list and see that many of them I touched and many of them I visited, it means a lot. It’s a personal hurdle.”
However, this aspiration does not fully account for the legal troubles Adams now faces.
When he ran for mayor in 2021, the city was emerging from an extended COVID-induced decline. He emphasized crime reduction and a return to normalcy as key components of his platform, showcasing his personality prominently during his campaign — a stark departure from his predecessors, Bill de Blasio and Mike Bloomberg, who were not particularly charismatic.
“There’s a temptation to conclude, I think, that personality is something New Yorkers are really looking for, rather than it being something they’ll tolerate,” noted former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has faced his own significant downfall and, like Adams, represented parts of Brooklyn.
Weiner further pointed out that Adams’ rise from humble beginnings in the outer boroughs to becoming a national and even global figure signifies a considerable adjustment.
“In his case, it could have been a really animating insecurity,” Weiner added.
A close associate of Adams, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, underscored that Adams’ bold demeanor stems from his upbringing and has been an asset throughout his career with the NYPD.
“When you don’t grow up with a lot, you tend to show off,” this individual said. “He’s braggadocious, he’s grandiose, he’s in your face. He learned as a lowly sergeant that that’s how you get on TV. That’s part of it. The other part of it is, he enjoyed it.”
The source also highlighted that projecting such a persona has political advantages. “That same profile is what’s keeping him alive right now,” they said.
His predominantly Black and immigrant working-class constituency can resonate with a leader who takes pride in showcasing his material and political achievements, but the durability of this connection is still uncertain.
“The argument for swagger is like a version of the prosperity ministry. It’s prosperity politics. It’s saying my constituents want to see me doing well,” explained Basil Smikle, a seasoned political strategist. “It’s good when you’re engaging in retail politics. It’s great on a campaign. But when you start governing, you have the lives of the voters in your hands. And the swagger doesn’t overcome these very specific concerns of the voters.”
A spokesperson for Adams did not respond to requests for comment.
Long before the indictment surfaced, visible signs hinted at the blurred line between swagger and hubris in Adams’ behavior.
Shortly after taking office, he appointed Phil Banks as deputy mayor for public safety, despite Banks being named in a federal corruption investigation during de Blasio’s administration as an unindicted co-conspirator — a significant detail likely not overlooked by federal prosecutors.
In addition to charging Adams, the Southern District is now investigating Banks and his brothers, including schools Chancellor David Banks and consultant Terence Banks, along with former NYPD Commissioner Eddie Caban and his twin.
During the initial stages of his administration, Adams also selected Frank Carone as his chief of staff, despite ongoing concerns regarding Carone’s business dealings.
Moreover, Adams maintained a social connection with Zhan and Robert Petrosyants, both of whom pleaded guilty in 2014 for their involvement in a check-cashing scheme to bypass money-laundering regulations.
Carone, however, defended Adams' reputation for swagger as a misinterpretation stemming from his commitment to revitalize the city post-COVID.
"He’s a humble, introverted human being who takes his job really, really seriously," Carone stated. "The reason that we did not consciously discourage that early on was when we took office, it was still COVID. We were in masks in our first meetings in City Hall."
Adams has also expressed that his loyalty to friends has been misconstrued, drawing upon his own teenage legal issues as context for his approach to mentorship.
“I have a criminal history,” he remarked in February 2022. “I am about giving people an opportunity. I mentor people every day. You would be surprised at the types of people that I mentor to put them back on track.”
Loyalty is a quality that historians may identify as pivotal to Adams’ beleaguered legacy.
He has remained steadfast in his support for longtime associates like the Banks brothers, the Petrosyants, and Timothy Pearson, a senior advisor currently under scrutiny for allegations of sexual harassment and incidents involving a security guard.
However, this loyalty does not always extend to members of his own party. For instance, Adams criticized President Joe Biden last year, stating he “failed” the city by not providing sufficient federal assistance for migrants.
Norman Siegel, a civil rights lawyer and a long-time friend of Adams, described the indictment as painfully disappointing, attributing part of his current situation to Adams’ loyalty to others.
“I thought I knew him,” Siegel reflected. “My sense is you pick up a bad habit, no one says anything about it and you keep doing it.”
Siegel contends that Adams’ loyalty is influenced by his upbringing and suggests he has remained committed to allies like Banks and Pearson due to their shared challenges in a predominantly white police force.
“I grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, and we are taught to be loyal, but there’s no such thing as blind loyalty,” he stated.
“He needed guardrails,” Siegel added. “It appeared, reading the indictment — if everything there is accurate — that they didn’t have those guardrails.”
Emily Johnson for TROIB News
