Despite once being ensnared in a federal corruption investigation, Philip Banks III will play a central role in the mayor’s plan to reduce gun violence.
The day after Eric Garner died in a police chokehold, Phil Banks then the NYPD’s top uniformed police officer was living it up in Los Angeles with a businessman who bribed cops and a corrupt jails union boss.
Deputy Mayor Phil Banks was serving as the NYPD’s chief of department at the time of Garner’s death, but instead of being in the Big Apple for what proved to be the historic aftermath of Garner’s arrest, Banks was in Los Angeles hobnobbing with two men who’d later be convicted on corruption charges.
One of Mayor de Blasio’s worst legacies is the way he opened his mayoralty to donors who sought to profit from doing business with the city. By bringing into his inner circle a man who played a sizable role in one of the most sordid chapters of de Blasio’s term, Eric Adams is taking a risk.