Robert Petrosyants defended the mayor as a steadfast friend.
“I’ve been friends with Eric for a long time and we’ve remained friends and then I had that problem, that financial problem,” said Robert Petrosyants in an interview. “As friends, he did not turn his back on me.”
The mayor’s emphasis on loyalty and redemption is giving some political observers pause.
“If he spends the vast majority of his time dealing with the consequences of people in his inner circle who have misbehaved or misbehaved, then that means he can’t do his job,” said Christina Greer, a political professor. sciences at Fordham University. “And he seems very excited to do this job.”
More importantly, the mayor runs the risk of being compromised if he associates with people who may have connections or activities “that would put him in a conflict of interest,” said Ross Sandler, the director of the Center for New York City Law. at New York Law School and a former US Attorney in Manhattan.
But Sid Davidoff, a veteran lobbyist and former aide to Mayor John V. Lindsay, said the general public is not as concerned about Mr. Adams’ appointments as they are about whether the garbage is being collected and whether the subways are safe. .
He defended the mayor’s second chance philosophy. “I think he deserves the time to show that the people he has appointed are the right people for the job, regardless of what has happened in their past,” said Mr Davidoff.
With questions so often raised about his recruiting practices, Mr. Adams adopted a pattern of political triage: weigh the uproar, delay a decision, and then make the hire—sometimes with diminished rank and responsibilities.
He followed that pattern with his brother, Bernard Adams, a retired police sergeant and most recently a parking administrator in Virginia. The mayor initially sought his brother for a position as a deputy commissioner of police who would oversee the security of the mayor and other dignitaries, despite having little experience with that type of work.