Mayor Eric Adams on Monday declined to say whether his ex-chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, is still volunteering on his long-shot reelection campaign just days after she was indicted on a slew of fresh bribery and conspiracy charges.
Hizzoner, during an Aug. 25 news conference where he was endorsed by a few dozen small business owners, abruptly stopped taking questions from reporters after refusing to disclose if Lewis-Martin is still involved in his independent campaign — as had previously been reported.
Lewis-Martin was charged last week in four separate indictments brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. She is accused of allegedly accepting lavish gifts from several individuals in exchange for using her top city government post to give them favorable treatment.
Lewis-Martin — who resigned from her senior City Hall role late last year, immediately before getting charged in a separate indictment — has been volunteering on Adams’ campaign since at least late June. Around that time, the Daily News reported on a virtual meeting where she instructed campaign volunteers on how to canvass and phone bank.
Yet on Monday, Mayor Adams would not make clear whether Lewis-Martin will maintain her role amid the new charges.
First asked by NY1 whether Lewis-Martin is still a volunteer and if Adams would accept her support, he responded, “I welcome support from all New Yorkers,” but did not address her status on the campaign.
Then, pressed again by the Daily News, he chided the reporter for asking a question that was not “on topic” and suddenly walked away.
NY1 followed up again while Adams was taking pictures with supporters, asking why he would not answer the question.
“Last week I spoke about the case,” Adams told the reporter, referencing a Friday press conference where he did not condemn Lewis-Martin’s alleged graft.
“That’s a wrap, I got a campaign to run. Speak to her attorney. Speak to her,” he added, referring to Lewis-Martin.
“It’s over,” Adams closed, implying he won’t speak about the matter again.
Following the event, Adams’ campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro did not deny that Lewis-Martin may still be a volunteer.
“Ingrid is not a City Hall staffer or campaign employee—what she does on her own time is her business,” Shapiro said in a statement. “The mayor has already addressed ALL HE WILL BE SAYING REGARDING questions about Ingrid, Winnie, and Jessie [sic].”
By Jessie, Shapiro appeared to mean Jesse Hamilton, who oversaw the city’s real estate portfolio and resigned last week after being indicted alongside Lewis-Martin.
The mayor’s refusal to disclose Lewis-Martin’s current position on the campaign sharply contrasts with other recent alleged misconduct by Winnie Greco, another former aide-turned campaign volunteer. Greco was suspended as a volunteer last week after allegedly trying to give THE CITY reporter Katie Honan over $100 in cash concealed inside a bag of potato chips.
Greco became a campaign volunteer despite her leaving the administration last year due to her homes being raided by federal agents in connection with an investigation into her fundraising for Adams’ 2021 campaign. She resigned soon after Adams was charged with his own now-dismissed federal case.
Earlier Monday morning, Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani held his own press conference responding to some of the charges against Lewis-Martin.
Specifically, he rallied with street safety advocates against Lewis-Martin allegedly halting a street safety redesign of Brooklyn’s notoriously dangerous McGuiness Boulevard in exchange for a cameo in the Hulu show “Harlem Godfathers” and a $2,500 cash payment.
Mamdani charged that Adams’ continued involvement with both Lewis-Martin and Greco speaks to broader issues of corruption within his administration.
“The mayor has had countless opportunities to rid his administration of those who have been alleged time and again to engage in corruption, and yet at seemingly every opportunity, he chooses to keep them close, and that says something about the style of leadership that he wants to practice at this city,” Mamdani said. “It says something that you would still have Winnie Greco on your campaign, that you would still have Ingrid Lewis-Martin as one of your close advisors. It has gotten to the absurd.”
