Credit: TPC
A close ally and confidant of Mayor Eric Adams, Sheena Wright, is resigning from her role as first deputy mayor. She now becomes the seventh senior official to leave the administration amid a crisis in New York City government.
Wright has been succeeded by Maria Torres-Springer, previously deputy mayor for housing, economic development, and workforce. Mayor Adams announced the leadership change during his weekly City Hall press conference on Tuesday, stating it was effective immediately, though the specific timing of Wright’s departure was not clarified.
Wright’s resignation coincided with the arrest of Mohamed Bahi, Adams’s former chief liaison to Muslim New Yorkers, who faces federal charges of witness tampering and destruction of evidence. His arrest is connected to the investigation that led to the mayor’s indictment last month.
The wave of resignations includes Wright’s husband, Schools Chancellor David C. Banks, and her brother-in-law, Philip B. Banks III, the deputy mayor for public safety. On September 4, federal investigators seized the phones of both men, Wright, and several other senior officials. With Wright’s departure, all of those targeted in the investigation have either resigned or announced plans to step down.