The list of advisers with atypical records includes the Rev. Adams has become the patron saint of second chances.
Siegel said he has expressed concern to the mayor’s senior advisers that some appointments are causing too much of a distraction “from focusing on the fundamental issues such as racial and social justice. “Everything he does, everything he says and everyone he associates with is closely scrutinized.” “As a mayor, it’s a different playing field,” said Norman Siegel, the former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union and a longtime friend of Mr. Other New York political hands fret that his relationships will tarnish his image, while distracting from the work at hand - resurrecting New York City from the throes of the pandemic. Adams’s embrace of friends and appointees with less-than-scrupulous records risks attracting unwelcome scrutiny, which dogged his predecessor, Bill de Blasio. Benjamin’s fund-raising practices had already publicly emerged. Hochul named him her lieutenant governor in August, concerns about Mr. Kathy Hochul’s second-in-command, Brian Benjamin, resigned after being indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and falsification of records while he was a state senator.
The importance of making careful appointments was underscored this month when Gov.
