Former top aide to NYC mayor among 7 facing new charges in City Hall corruption probe
NEW YORK (AP) — A former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams was hit Thursday with a second wave of bribery charges in a swirling corruption investigation of City Hall, with prosecutors alleging she exchanged political favors for cash, home renovations and a speaking role on a TV show.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ former chief of staff and closest confidant, was among seven people facing new charges in a widening probe that has circled the mayor’s office for two years.
Adams himself has not been charged, but the case will thrust the corruption allegations that have dogged the Democrat back into focus as he tries to regain voters’ trust ahead of a contested election in November. A spokesperson for Adams’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Lewis-Martin and her son Glenn D. Martin, who is also charged, appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty. The other defendants, who include Jesse Hamilton, a former state senator who now oversees the city’s real estate portfolio; developers Tian Ji Li and Yechiel Landau; and two of Adams’ political donors, siblings Tony and Gina Argento, also pleaded not guilty.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described the new indictments against Lewis-Martin as “classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government.”
She resigned last December ahead of her indictment in a separate case in which she and her son are accused of taking bribes in exchange for speedy approval of construction projects. They have pleaded not guilty, and the case is still pending. Lewis-Martin has continued to volunteer for the Adams campaign while awaiting trial.
Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, vowed to fight the new charges, saying, “This is not justice — it is a distortion of the truth and a troubling example of politically motivated ‘lawfare.’”
The fresh round of indictments brought against Adams’ close allies could add to political headwinds already facing the mayor, whose own indictment on federal bribery charges was abandoned by President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year.
The corruption scandals have opened the door to challengers in the upcoming election, including the Democratic primary winner, Zohran Mamdani, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Adams is running as an independent, claiming the case brought against him — in which he was accused of accepting bribes and travel perks from foreign interests — had prevented him from campaigning in the Democratic primary. Those charges were dismissed in April following an extraordinary intervention by U.S. Justice Department officials, who said the case was impeding Adams from assisting in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In the months since, the status of other federal probes linked to Adams’ key allies, including his former police commissioner and several deputy mayors, has remained uncertain. The new charges were brought by Bragg, who prosecuted Trump last year and who is also running for reelection.
The sheer volume of new defendants charged Thursday appeared to overwhelm the Manhattan courtroom in which proceedings were held. Judge Daniel Conviser arraigned the defendants in small groups, rather than all at once, because they couldn’t all fit with their lawyers at the defense table.
“This is a little bit awkward. I’d rather have seven people sitting up here, but it just doesn’t work,” Conviser said.
In the new cases, prosecutors place Lewis-Martin at the center of a series of bribery schemes that touched on city contracting, fast-tracking permits for a karaoke bar in Queens and other developments, and the temporary scuttling of a plan to add protected bicycle lanes to a Brooklyn street.
In return, prosecutors say, Lewis-Martin received perks that included a speaking role on the Forest Whitaker-led TV show “Godfather of Harlem,” along with cash payments for her and her son, home renovations and thousands of dollars’ worth of catering for events at City Hall and the mayor’s official residence at Gracie Mansion.
Summarizing the allegations against the ex-Adams adviser, Assistant District Attorney Guy Tardanico said: “If you were willing to pay, Ms. Lewis-Martin was open for business.”
Both federal and state investigators seized Lewis-Martin’s phone at Kennedy Airport last September as she returned from a trip to Japan with Hamilton, Li and others. Prosecutors allege that Li deleted text messages with Lewis-Martin and Hamilton from his phone on the return flight.
A spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, Todd Shapiro, said Adams “has not been accused of any wrongdoing” and that while Lewis-Martin no longer works for his administration, “she has been a friend and colleague of the mayor for over 40 years, and he knows her as a devoted public servant.”
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, MICHAEL R. SISAK and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Associated Press
