Mixxy Mayor Adams Gets NYPD Union Endorsements Despite Lawsuits

On Thursday (July 17), several NYPD unions gave their formal endorsement to New York City Mayor Eric Adams for his reelection campaign, despite the looming specter of lawsuits levied against him in the past weeks, including one from 2023 involving sexual assault allegations by a former colleague of Adams from his time with the NYPD which resurfaced.

Those unions endorsing Adams’ run represent sergeants, lieutenants and detectives. “Everybody running for office right now for the mayor… they all have plans on how they’re going to reduce crime. Those are plans. We have action that has been working. Why do you want to change that?” said Lou Turco, president of the NYPD’s Lieutenant’s Benevolent Association. The Police Benevolent Association, the largest for the NYPD, has not made a formal endorsement, with a spokesperson saying that they’re not prepared to make a mayoral endorsement yet.

Adams’ reelection campaign is focusing on public safety, and he held a press conference emphasizing those numbers on the steps of City Hall on Thursday afternoon. “This year, under the leadership of the police commissioner, we’re seeing the lowest numbers of shootings and homicides in the recorded history of the city,” he said. The Corrections Benevolent Association as well as the union representing those in sanitation are included in the endorsements.

It remains to be seen how effective these endorsements will be for Adams in November. In the past weeks, he has again denied working with a woman accusing him of sexual assault, claiming in a letter responding to a request for discovery that his personnel files were lost due to flood damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, according to reports. The letter making the claim was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. Adams is alleged to have assaulted the victim three decades ago when he was a detective with the NYPD.

Adams’ first term has also been marked by widespread allegations of corruption, leading to FBI raids and seizures of phones of some of his staffers before the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump dismissed the case. On Monday, former NYPD commissioner Thomas Donlon filed a federal lawsuit accusing Adams and other City Hall staffers of running the NYPD as a “criminal enterprise.” It follows another suit making similar allegations by former NYPD officers.