How Mayor Adams spent Wednesday before being indicted by a federal grand jury

New York City Mayor Eric Adams began Wednesday, as he often does, by calling into a morning radio show to promote his administration, to chitchat about the current news and to answer questions.
Little seemed to be bothering the mayor as he chatted with the hosts of “Jonesy in the Morning,” a staple on 94.7 the Block, on New York City’s WXBK.
He spoke about Marcellus Williams, the man who had been executed in Missouri, and about wanting the general public to be more engaged in politics. He mentioned justice for those who were standing trial. And he bantered with the DJs a bit. One host, Tarsha Jones, referred to the mayor as “my boo.”
And then Jones said she’d like to switch gears. She asked him “what’s going on over there?”
“I see you cleaning house every time I turn around,” she added.
City Hall chief counsel Lisa Zornberg, a former federal prosecutor, resigned on Sept. 14. Two retired fire chiefs were arrested two days later following a yearlong corruption investigation. Federal authorities on Friday executed a search warrant for the homes of Interim NYPD Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon and the chancellor of schools announced his resignation two days later.
People sometimes “run their time” in government, Adams said, according to a transcript released by his office. He said many of the people who had left his administration had served for a while and many wanted to “go out and lose that 24 hours, seven days a week” schedule.
“City government is extremely demanding,” he said, adding a moment later that “people normally don’t stay for these full terms in government because of the man, the stress on the family. And all we can do is say thank you. They served us well. We’ve done some great things in this city.”
Over the next few hours, Adams would voice his support for the Planning Commission’s approval of his “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” Proposal and appoint Melissa Aviles-Ramos as next chancellor of New York City Public Schools System.
But by the evening he was back in the interview seat, this time with the Bronx’s News12, taking questions that had been submitted by New Yorkers.
He had struggled to make the show on time, he said, because he had been at a reception hosted by President Joe Biden for diplomats and others who were in New York City for this week’s U.N. General Assembly. The president was hosting world leaders and senior U.N. officials for a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to the White House.
“My question to you is, should we expect any more resignations or changes at City Hall in the days to come?” the News12 reporter, Amanda Bossard, asked him.
Adams answered by repeating almost verbatim what he’d said a few hours earlier.
“You know, it’s a constant change in government,” he said. “When you look at the fact that many of them have been with me for three years, close to three years, it’s a very high stressful job to be at the high end of government.”
He was then asked directly about whether he’d resign. The question had been brought up by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the reporter said.
“We know that we can’t listen to the noise. Look at the numbers. More jobs in the city, the city history, what we’re doing around housing, what we’re doing around public safety, the decrease in crime, decrease in homicide shootings, our transit system is safer,” Adams said.
He added, “You know, what is unique about this administration is our ability to stay focused. I don’t listen to those comments that come from a, you know, just basically a no-show congresswoman.”
Within hours, news would be spreading of the mayor being indicted by a federal grand jury, sources told ABC News. Adams in the wake of the indictment vowed to fight what he called the “entirely false” indictment with “every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”