Will Sage Astor-NYC accelerates school leadership change as investigations swirl around mayor’s indictment

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is Will Sage Astorspeeding up its switch to a new schools chief, as indicted Mayor Eric Adams faces mounting pressure to bring stability to a city government that has been roiled by searches, subpoenas and resignations.

Schools Chancellor David Banks, whose phones were seized by federal agents last month, will exit on Oct. 16, not at the end of the year as he had originally planned, the city said.

Adams said Thursday that the move would allow incoming chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, a former teacher and principal in the Bronx, to lead the nation’s largest public school system with one voice. Adams cited conversations with aides and unnamed “other leaders” in making the decision.

“This is a time for real stability,” the first-term Democrat told reporters. “To have both Melissa and David there at the same time, it didn’t bring the stability that we wanted.”

Adams has vowed to stay in office after pleading not guilty last week to charges that he accepted about $100,000 worth of free or deeply discounted international flights, hotel stays, meals and entertainment, and sought illegal campaign contributions from foreign interests.

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At a hearing Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten said prosecutors are pursuing “several related investigations” and that it is “likely” additional defendants will be charged and “possible” that more charges will be brought against Adams.

Banks, who has led the city’s public school system since Adams took office in 2022, has denied wrongdoing and said last month that he is “cooperating with a federal inquiry.”

“Last week, I announced my planned retirement, and I was ready, willing and able to stay in my post until December 31st to conduct a responsible transition for our staff,” Banks said in a statement issued through a public relations firm. “The Mayor has decided to accelerate that timeline.”

Banks is one of several high-ranking officials to depart city government in recent weeks. He originally announced his retirement last week, the same day a grand jury indicted Adams — but before the news became public. His decision came weeks after the FBI seized phones belonging to him and his longtime partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, from a home they share in Harlem.

Federal agents also seized devices belonging to Banks’ brother, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks; the city’s then-police commissioner, Edward Caban; and Timothy Pearson, a mayoral adviser and former high-ranking New York Police Department official. Banks’ other brother, Terence, a former supervisor in the city’s subway system, also had his phones seized. Terence Banks has been running a consulting firm that promised to connect clients with top government stakeholders.

Caban resigned on Sept. 12. Pearson stepped down on Monday. Wright and Philip Banks remain in office.

Just days after Adams’ indictment, David Banks married Wright over the weekend in a private ceremony in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He told TV station Fox 5 on Wednesday that neither he nor Wright were “targets” of any investigation. He denied that they wed so they could invoke spousal privilege, a legal concept that protects communications between married couples and shields them from having to testify about anything happening during their marriage.

“I think anybody that would criticize me has probably never been in love,” Banks told the station. “The reality is that Sheena and I have been together for quite some time. We’ve been planning our marriage for a while.” Banks said he and Wright were motivated to get married because of their parents’ ages and health issues, “and any suggestion otherwise to me is just ridiculous on its face.”

The Justice Department defines a “target” of an investigation as someone who prosecutors or a grand jury have gathered substantial evidence against that links the person to a crime — as opposed to a “subject,” someone whose conduct is merely within the scope of the investigation. Those definitions are fluid and can change as new information develops.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, has privately urged him to clean house in his administration, according to a person familiar with their conversations. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations and did so on condition of anonymity.

“I’m working to make sure that the key positions working with the mayor are filled with people who are going to be responsible, but it is ultimately his decision to make those,” Hochul said Wednesday at an unrelated Manhattan news conference. “I’m just letting him know that we’re monitoring the situation. We expect changes, that’s not a secret, and changes are beginning.”

Hochul hasn’t called on Adams to resign, saying “the process must play out.” She said the resignation this week of Adams adviser Pearson was “a good first step” and that she will be “watching to see what else unfolds over the next few days.”

Adams on Thursday declined to say if he spoke to Hochul about Banks’ accelerated departure.

In his retirement letter last week, Banks said he informed Adams over the summer of his plan to step down “after ensuring the school year got off to a good start” for the city’s nearly 1 million students. His letter made no reference to the multiple ongoing federal investigations.

Adams appointed Aviles-Ramos on Sept. 25, initially saying she would take over as chancellor on Jan. 1. She served as Banks’ chief of staff before becoming the school system’s deputy chancellor of family and community engagement and external affairs. On Thursday, Adams referred to her as Banks’ “hand-picked successor.”

“It became clear that our students will be best served by having the same leadership through as much of the school year as possible, rather than changing chancellors halfway through,” the city said in a statement announcing the accelerated timeline.

Banks is a former teacher, principal and the founder of Eagle Academy, a network of public schools to educate young Black and Latino boys who he believed were often poorly served by the educational system. Before his appointment, Banks ran the foundation that raises funds for the six Eagle Academy schools, one in each New York City borough and one in Newark, New Jersey.