Top city and NYPD officials Chauncey Parker and Kaz Daughtry are on a shortlist of candidates Mayor Adams is considering for the deputy mayor for public safety post in the wake of Phil Banks’ resignation, sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News on Tuesday.
Adams confirmed he’s seeking to fill Banks’ role at his weekly press briefing Tuesday. Parker, an assistant in the office of the deputy mayor for public safety, and Daughtry, NYPD’s deputy commissioner for operations, are both under serious consideration for the high-ranking position, the sources said.
Daughtry declined comment, and Parker could not be immediately reached. It wasn’t immediately who else might be under consideration.
“I received six calls from people who are outside of government who asked, ‘Could they be considered for the position?’” Adams said at his briefing. “I have some people in government who reached out to me and stated that, could they be considered for the position?”
Adams spokesman Fabien Levy declined to address the potential appointment of either Parker or Daughtry. “When we have an announcement to make, we’ll make sure to make it,” he said.
Banks resigned last weekend after having his home raided and electronics seized as part of the federal corruption investigations ensnaring the Adams administration. As deputy mayor, he worked closely with the NYPD and oversaw the fire and corrections departments as well as the emergency management agency.
Adams is facing federal criminal charges for allegedly soliciting bribes from the government of Turkey and its associates in exchange for political favors. He has said Banks first told him he wanted to resign months earlier, but that he convinced him to stay on to complete some initiatives.
“It’s just unbelievable what he did on many of these areas,” Adams said Tuesday of Banks, who he insisted left of his own violation and not because of the federal investigations into his administration.
Banks was first appointed by Adams to the role in January 2022, a pick that raised controversy given Banks had been named an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping corruption probe. He was not charged with any wrongdoing.
Tim Pearson, a high-level public safety adviser to Adams who also recently stepped down after being embroiled in a corruption probe, will also be replaced, the mayor said. Pearson oversaw migrant contracts for the city and faces four sexual harassment lawsuits and one lawsuit alleging he attacked migrant shelter security guards.
“We also are going to look at how did we utilize that senior advisor position as well to go in and monitor particularly when we deal with those in asylum seekers, to make sure that we were saving taxpayers dollars,” Adams said.
A number of high-level administration officials have resigned since the mayor’s indictment on Sept. 26.
Among those who have announced their resignation are all five officials who had their homes searched or devices seized by the feds on Sept. 4: Pearson, Banks, his older brother, outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks, former First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, David’s wife, and Edward Caban, the ex-NYPD commissioner.
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