Scandal-plagued Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, close Adams friend, resigns

Scandal-plagued Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks has resigned, succumbing to weeks of pressure amid federal probes that ensnared both him and his longtime friend Mayor Eric Adams, sources told The Post.

The resignation, which sources said was submitted Sunday night, is the latest high-profile departure from Adams’ administration — and is certain to raise further questions about whether the mayor himself can endure after his historic federal indictment.

Over the past few weeks, Adams has scrambled to convince embattled top administration officials to depart with Gov. Kathy Hochul pressuring the mayor to clean house.

“We spoke yesterday and we spoke again this morning,” Adams said Monday morning on NY1 when asked about The Post report on Banks resignation.

“He stated that he wanted to transition to some other things with his life and he doesn’t want this to be a constant burden on the work that we are doing in the city and I accepted his resignation,” Hizzoner said.

“I wish my good friend well,” he added before praising his work in city government. 

City Hall did not immediately respond for comment.

Federal agents raided Banks’ home in Queens and seized his devices early Sept. 4.

Banks had since resisted calls for his resignation, including from The Post’s editorial board, which have intensified amid the drip-drip of details about the federal probe.

Sources had told The Post that Banks had wanted to leave for months but after the federal raids, the deputy mayor wanted to stay on and fight. But it eventually became clear that stepping down would be best for Adams and the administration. 

Firms said to be working with Terence Banks that scored public pilot deals include app-maker Saferwatch, IT companies Derive Technologies and SVAM International and grocery store delivery app Mercato, records show.

His resignation comes on the heels of his and Adams’ friend Tim Pearson, a retired NYPD inspector who served as a top aide to the mayor and oversaw migrant security contracts, also stepping down amid federal scrutiny.

The tumult comes as Adams faces five criminal counts in a bombshell federal indictment.

The feds’ investigation of Banks focused on whether he steered city contracts toward companies repped by his younger brother Terence’s consulting firm, which inked millions of dollars worth of deals with the city, sources have said.

Firms said to be working with Terence Banks that scored public contracts include app-maker Saferwatch, IT companies Derive Technologies and SVAM International and grocery store delivery app Mercato, records show.

The elder Banks and his brother are both regulars at swanky Manhattan nightclubs, insiders said.

Banks has long been a controversial and powerful figure in Adams’ administration.

As deputy mayor for public safety, Banks was viewed by many as akin to a shadow police commissioner. He repeatedly bypassed Adams’ first NYPD top cop Keechant Sewell, who grew so frustrated that she ultimately resigned, sources said.

And Banks also came with significant baggage from his own tenure within the NYPD. He had risen through the ranks to become chief of department, but abruptly resigned in 2014 before being promoted to first deputy commissioner.

At the time, Banks said he had left because he was unhappy with the promotion — but it was later revealed that he did so under federal scrutiny in a sweeping bribery scandal around Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg, who paid off cops with hookers and jewelry.

The feds named Banks an unindicted co-conspirator and found his accounts had $300,000 in mystery transactions.

Despite the scandal, Adams hired Banks in 2022 to serve as deputy mayor for public safety — a post that hadn’t been filled by a mayor for three decades. The appointment also raised eyebrows because City Hall officials didn’t immediately request a waiver to hire Banks, who needed it to be eligible for his $252,000 salary while pulling an annual six-figure pension from his time as a cop.

Adams defended the hiring of Banks — and others — against accusations of cronyism, saying he was tapping the “best people for the job.”

Banks’ tenure was marked by hostile interactions with reporters, questions about his rent-a-cop company landing an MTA contract and ties to Pearson, who scored a City Hall job despite his own troubled past.