Lisa Zornberg, Mayor Adams’ former chief counsel, resigned over the weekend after the mayor rejected her advice to fire several top administration officials ensnared in federal corruption investigations rocking City Hall, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, told the Daily News that among the administration officials Zornberg urged the mayor to terminate was Tim Pearson, his senior public safety adviser whose home was raided and electronics seized by federal authorities earlier this month.
The identities of the other top officials Zornberg wanted to see axed weren’t immediately clear. Pearson is among five senior Adams aides who had their homes raided and devices confiscated this month as part of two separate corruption investigations led by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.
Zornberg presented Adams with the recommendation for firings after concluding an internal review of Ray Martin, a lower-level aide in the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, the sources said.
Martin was identified this past Thursday in a report by WNBC as having used his city position to help drum up security business for James Caban, the twin brother of recently resigned NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban who has emerged as a key figure in one of the ongoing federal probes.
James Caban, a former cop, is being investigated over whether he tried to use his connections in the NYPD to squeeze nightlife venues in the city for cash in exchange for police favors. WNBC reported Martin directed one Brooklyn bar owner to the twin brother when the owner had complained about too much police enforcement at his establishment.
After the report, the mayor’s office did fire Martin — at Zornberg’s recommendation, the sources told The News. But the mayor ultimately did not follow her advice to fire other senior officials in his administration, sources said.
One of the sources familiar with the matter described Zornberg’s weekend request for the mayor to fire multiple advisers as “an ultimatum.” When Adams didn’t follow her advice, she resigned, the two sources said.
“I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position,” Zornberg wrote in a resignation letter Saturday night to the mayor.
Adams’ office has declined to identify a reason for Zornberg’s departure, but the New York Times first reported over the weekend that it came after the mayor had declined her “advice on certain personnel matters.”
Zornberg’s departure added another layer of turmoil at City Hall, already rocked by the news of the federal investigations and last week’s regination of police commissioner Edward Caban.
Zornberg could not be reached for comment Monday, and Pearson did not respond to messages. A spokesman for the mayor did not immediately return a request for comment.
No one has been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the federal investigations.
In addition to the James Caban-focused inquiry, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is leading a separate probe into whether Terence Banks, the younger brother of Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and Schools Chancellor David Banks, played part in a scheme involving unregistered lobbying.
As part of that probe, all three Banks brothers had their homes searched and electronics confiscated earlier this month. First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Chancellor Banks’ longtime partner who shares a home with him, also had her electronics taken.
With Graham Rayman
