Mayor Adams accepted between $1,000 and $6,000 price of items final 12 months from the Madison Sq. Backyard enterprise empire, the leisure big that holds vital monetary pursuits earlier than the town, in keeping with new information.
Beneath native legislation, elected officers typically can’t settle for items from company entities engaged in enterprise with the town authorities, together with MSG, which holds numerous monetary pursuits earlier than the town, together with issues associated to tax breaks.
Nevertheless, there’s an exception to that rule beneath which an elected can take freebies like sports activities tickets in the event that they’re accepted in reference to an official motion.
In his disclosure kind, Adams wrote he took the Knicks courtside ticket, listed as having a worth between $1,000 and $5,000, in an effort to do “an interview about the Knicks’s importance to the city.” He additionally wrote he took the Billy Joel ticket, valued between $50 and $999, in an effort to give Joel a Key to the Metropolis.
Mayor Adams awards a Key to the Metropolis to Billy Joel at MSG on July 25, 2024. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Images Workplace)
The Conflicts of Pursuits Board, which enforces metropolis ethics legal guidelines, declined to remark Friday, citing confidentiality protocols.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak mentioned the ceremonial features on the Knicks recreation and Joel live performance made the items permissible.
Authorities ethics knowledgeable John Kaehny agreed, given the explanations Adams acknowledged for accepting them.
Kaehny argued, nonetheless, the legislation must be amended to sharply limit how elected officers can settle for items in such situations. “It should have been done away with a long time ago,” he mentioned. “It’s totally inconsistent with the spirit of the laws.”
Moreover tax break points, MSG depends on the town authorities to approve the operational allow it must run its well-known enviornment. That allow is up for renewal in 2028.
Additionally final 12 months, James Dolan, MSG’s high govt, his relations and enterprise associates pumped greater than $60,000 into Adams’ reelection marketing campaign coffers and authorized protection belief, which the mayor makes use of to cowl thousands and thousands of {dollars} in lawyer charges he racked up as a part of his federal corruption indictment.
Requested whether or not he wanted to formally clock off metropolis authorities time in an effort to attend the listening to in the course of a workday, Mastro mentioned: “I am always on the clock and always on call.”
Initially Printed: April 25, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT
