Eric Adams, the 110th mayor of New York City and a former police captain elected nearly three years ago on a platform to reduce crime, has been indicted following a federal corruption investigation, the New York Times reported Wednesday night. The indictment remains sealed, and the specific charges are not yet known. However, when they are revealed, Adams will become the first sitting mayor of New York City to face criminal charges. The indictment is expected to send shockwaves through the city and plunge his already embattled administration into deeper turmoil as he prepares for a contentious mayoral primary. Representatives for Mayor Adams and his campaign have not yet issued a comment. His legal team, Brendan R. McGuire and Boyd M. Johnson III of WilmerHale, also did not respond to requests for comment from the Times. Officials from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI, and the city’s Department of Investigation declined to comment on the matter. The charges mark a dramatic fall for Adams, 64, a former state senator and Brooklyn borough president who ascended to the mayoralty as the city was grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge in migrant arrivals from the southern border. Adams’s rise to political prominence has long been viewed as a quintessential New York success story. Raised by a working-class mother in Brooklyn and Queens, he overcame personal challenges, including dyslexia and early encounters with the police, before joining the New York Police Department himself. During his two-decade career, he became a captain and vocal advocate for Black officers. Following his retirement from the NYPD, Adams pursued a political career, eventually achieving his dream of becoming mayor. He won the position by appealing to a wide range of voters across New York City and often cited his success as a divinely ordained mission. As mayor, Adams promised to restore the city’s confidence, famously vowing to return “swagger” to a New York still recovering from the pandemic. However, his administration has been marred by controversy, with several of his close associates facing scrutiny from federal investigators. Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had been probing members of his inner circle as part of the ongoing investigation. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)