NYC NOW - Midday News: Mayor Adams Denies Striking Deal with DOJ, NY Plans Ronkonkoma Rail Expansion, and Paul McCartney Holds Surprise NYC Show

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams and his attorneys deny they made a deal with the Justice Department after federal officials directed prosecutors in Manhattan to drop his corruption case. Meanwhile, New York State is investing $150 million to connect the Ronkonkoma train station to MacArthur Airport, a move Governor Kathy Hochul says will boost local jobs. Plus, Paul McCartney surprises fans with a second, last-minute show at the Bowery Ballroom after Tuesday’s sold-out performance. Finally, despite a directive from the Justice Department to drop corruption charges against Mayor Adams, the mayor remains on uncertain legal and political footing. WNYC’s Samantha Max breaks down what’s next in the case.

Welcome to NYC now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, February 12th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Mayor Adams and his attorneys continue to proclaim his innocence after the Department of Justice told prosecutors to drop the corruption case against him. This week, the Justice Department sent a memo directing acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon to dismiss the case, saying it was interfering with Mayor Adams' ability to help Trump administration's immigration crackdown. But Adams' attorney Alex Spirrell denies the mayor had agreed to help the federal government carry out its crackdown in exchange for having his case dismissed.

Of course not. That's absurd. Prosecutors have yet to make their former request to dismiss the case. After that happens, a federal judge will consider the request. Prosecutors could bring the charges up again if they're dismissed. New York State is planning to spend $150 million to connect the Ronconcla train station in Suffolk County to nearby MacArthur Airport. Governor Kathy Hockel says improving the Long Island Airport will help bring jobs to the area. It's that doormat to the rest of the world. They see you and they come into a place that clearly a community is proud of and has investments in it.

It's a good sign to businesses that we're trying to recruit here as well as the hometown residents who deserve nothing about the best. The funding will pay for a pedestrian bridge as well as road upgrades. Paul McCartney is here, there and everywhere these days. A legendary Beatle is adding a second surprise show in the city. He's performing again tonight at the Bowery Ballroom. He played a sold-out show last night as well. Fans flocked to the Bowery Ballroom's box office upon hearing the news. 35 with clouds feeling like the mid-20s right now.

A slight chance of snow after four this afternoon, a high of 38. overnight snow, sleet, and rain, temperature rising to the 30s. Stay close. There's more after the break. NYC. The criminal case against Mayor Adams is on shaky ground this morning after the U.S. Department of Justice sent a memo on Monday asking prosecutors to drop the charges, at least for now. A federal grand jury indicted Adams last September for bribery,

conspiracy, wire fraud, and soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals. prosecutors say he traded his political influence for pricey flight upgrades, ritsy hotel accommodations, and illegal campaign contributions. The mayor has said he's done nothing wrong. WNBC Samantha Max joins us now to explain what this case means legally. Why does the Department of Justice, Sam, want prosecutors to toss the case against Adams? So acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Beauvais directed the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. to dismiss these pending charges against the mayor as soon as possible for two different reasons that he mentioned. One is the timing of this case. He said it was brought too close to the mayoral

election, which is this year. He accused the office of politically targeting Adams after he criticized former president Joe Biden's handling of immigration policy. And the second reason mentioned in this memo is that they said the case is interfering with Adams ability to focus on illegal immigration and violent crime. Those are the words that they used. They said Adams needs to be able to focus on helping the federal government and that this case is a distraction. The U.S. Attorney's Office, I should say, declined to comment. So does this mean that Mayor Adams is legally in the clear for good? You know, not necessarily. The Justice Department said it didn't assess the merits of this case. So it wasn't looking at whether or not Adams is guilty. Instead, the memo just instructed for the charges to be dropped without prejudice. That's this legal term that means they could be revived in the future. For now, they're saying wait until after the mayoral election this fall and then you can revisit it. Andrew Bauer, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York,

told me that it's unclear at this point whether the case will be resuscitated in the future. It probably depends in some part on how nice Eric Adams plays with the administration. How much he cracks down on immigration. How those violent crimes numbers are going to look. You know, you're in Trump's favor until you're not. Adams and Trump have gotten closer in recent weeks with, both claiming that prosecutors politically targeted them. The mayor actually met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

He attended his inauguration and his allegedly instructed city officials not to criticize the president. Trump, on his part, said at a press conference after his election that he thought Adams had been treated pretty unfairly, his words. Another attorney I spoke with said he does not expect these charges to come back in the next four years. and by the time Trump is out of office, the statute of limitations will be fast approaching. Adams wasn't the only one charged in this case, Sam. So what does this mean for the other defendants? It's really unclear at this point. A Brooklyn real estate mogul accused of funneling illicit donations from the Turkish government to Adams' 2021 campaign has already pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge last month, but he has not been sentenced yet. And then a former liaison to the Muslim community also plans to take a guilty plea, and that's according to court papers just filed last week.

I spoke with John Carmen. He's an attorney who often represents defendants in federal cases. He says there's no guarantee that prosecutors would dismiss the charges against those two men, even if they dropped the case against Adams. It leaves these people at a level of vulnerability that's much more significant than it would be. had the mayor's case went forward and they would have been given an opportunity to testify and they would be richly rewarded by the sentencing court for doing that. So we don't know if these two men are going to have the opportunity to trade their cooperation for favorable treatment. There had also been talk of possible other charges against other

defendants or more charges against Adams in the future and all of that is just really uncertain at this point. The U.S. Attorney's Office said it could not comment on the future of the cases against other defendants. So, Sam, what happens next? Well, acting U.S. Attorney Daniel Sassoon has to decide whether to follow this directive and drop the case. She's only been the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for a few weeks and will likely be replaced by President Trump's appointee soon. Sassoon has been with the Southern District for almost a decade, and she recently prosecuted a really high-profile case against former crypto executive Sam Bakeman-Fried. She's also a member of the Federalist Society, which is a conservative legal group, so it's unclear, you know, what direction she might go in.

But legal experts I spoke with said, disobeying this order really is not an option if she wants to stay in this job. or really with the office. She could resign if she disagrees with the directive or doesn't want to be seen as too politically motivated. And if that happens, the attorneys I spoke with said the Justice Department will just find someone else who's willing to take orders and drop the case.

So at this point, it's a waiting game of who makes the decision and when. And doesn't a judge have to sign off on this? Yes. So a judge would also need to sign off. sign off. The judge in this case is Dale Ho. He's a fairly new judge who actually used to be an attorney representing voting rights. So, you know, there's a chance that he could say, you know what, I'm not going to sign off on this, but the legal experts I spoke with said that's highly

unlikely that a judge would disagree. So all signs are pointing to these charges being dropped at this point. Our Samantha Max covers the courts and public safety. for WNYC. You can read her story on the Adams case on our news site. Gotham as always. Thank you. Thanks, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this evening.