Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
The chief adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned without warning over the weekend, as news broke of her impending indictment.
On Sunday (December 15), Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the top adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, resigned from her position. The move comes three months after she was subpoenaed by federal investigators and amid reports that a grand jury is seeking to indict her. Lewis-Martin, 63, said in a statement that she is stepping down to spend more time with her family.
“I thank God, first and foremost, for allowing me to serve the city that I love for close to 35 years through volunteerism and employment,” she said in the statement. “While I previously announced my retirement, this is still a bittersweet moment for me as government has been my life’s work.” Lewis-Martin has been a staunch ally of Mayor Adams for close to four decades, from his time as a New York City Police Department officer to holding the highest position in the city.
In a separate statement, Mayor Adams wrote that she “has not been just a friend, a confidante and trusted adviser, but also a sister.” He continued: “We’ve always talked about when this day would come, and while we’ve long planned for it, it is still hard to know that Ingrid won’t be right next door every day. I, and every New Yorker, owe her a debt of gratitude for her decades of service to our city.”
According to reports, Manhattan prosecutors who have been investigating allegations of corruption by Lewis-Martin have presented evidence to a grand jury, with the possibility of an indictment being announced this week. Federal agents seized her phones in September after she arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport from a vacation to Japan with colleagues. Sources close to the investigation state that the focus is on bribery and money laundering being part of the city’s commercial leasing properties. Federal agents also searched her Brooklyn home and seized the phones of her son and colleagues the same day.
For Mayor Adams, his adviser’s resignation is a gut punch. Lewis-Martin’s departure is the latest in a string of those in his administration who have resigned early and after Adams’ federal indictment in September. Mayor Adams is set to go to trial on charges of corruption in April 2025, months before his re-election campaign officially kicks off.
