Mamdani Administration Has Continued To Quietly Purge Eric Adams’ Allies From Nyc Government

NEW YORK — Several loyal aides to former Mayor Eric Adams were shifted into high-paying jobs in obscure corners of New York City’s government at the very tail end of his term, a POLITICO review of personnel records has found.

The 11th-hour staff transfers appeared aimed at hiding the aides in question from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who embarked on a purge of the municipal ranks late last year to root out employees seen as loyal to Adams.

Adams’ staff stowaway campaign failed on multiple fronts.

In early January, in a previously unreported move, Mamdani’s administration fired longtime Adams confidante Denise Felipe-Adams from a post at the Department of Transportation that the former mayor’s team had slotted her into in late December, according to a person with direct knowledge of the events who was granted anonymity to discuss the matter.

Prior to being transferred to the Department of Transportation, Felipe-Adams, who isn’t related to the former mayor, had worked throughout Adams’ term in a cryptocurrency-related position that he created for her.

On March 7, Mamdani’s administration also fired Lisa Lashley, another staunch Adams ally who served as his appointments director at City Hall, from a Department of Probation post that the former mayor’s team transferred her into on Dec. 9, according to personnel records and a Mamdani aide granted anonymity to discuss internal staffing matters.

Despite Mamdani’s apparently ongoing purge, several Adams allies who worked in his office have managed to remain in the city bureaucracy because of the former mayor’s late 2025 staff moves.

Among the Adams loyalists who’ve stayed on is David Johnson, a special assistant in the former mayor’s office who now works in a municipal criminal justice unit despite having pleaded guilty over a decade ago to harassment in relation to a domestic violence incident, personnel records show. Howard Singer, a senior adviser in Adams’ office, landed in an administrative services post that he also continues to serve in, according to the records.

Liz Glazer, who served as director of City Hall’s Office of Criminal Justice under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, said she found it “odd” that Adams’ team ostensibly tried to use the bureaucracy to protect aides from Mamdani’s axe.

“If a new administration wants to clean house, as is their right, putting cronies in different agencies doesn't prevent that,” she said.

Camille Joseph-Varlack, Adams’ last chief of staff who helped spearhead his transition out of office, worked to secure new roles for dozens of Adams staffers in the final weeks of the administration, according to two former city officials with knowledge of the transfers who were granted anonymity to discuss the matter.

It’s unclear what Joseph-Varlack’s exact role was in the transfers of Johnson, Singer, Lashley and Felipe-Adams, and she declined to comment when reached late Tuesday. It’s also unclear what role Adams himself played in their transfers; he didn’t return a request for comment.

In using the bureaucracy to stow away Adams loyalists, the former mayor’s team saved a handful of loyal allies — at least temporarily — from the incoming Mamdani administration’s terminations of more than 170 mayoral office staffers in mid-November. The layoffs were part of a broader Mamdani push to move past the legacy of Adams, who faced a federal indictment while in office and oversaw an administration engulfed in corruption scandals.

But Mamdani’s bloodletting caused outrage from city workers who accused the incoming mayor of being far from surgical, resulting in some longtime public servants being caught up in the axings.

The fact that some Adams allies have been able to remain in government also indicates Mamdani’s purge didn’t have its full intended effect — and it raises questions about whether those who remain in city government are trying to undermine the new mayor from within.

Joe Calvello, a spokesperson for Mamdani, declined to discuss any particular staff moves, but said it’s “common during transitions between mayoral administrations for employees to move into different roles across agencies.”

“Each commissioner and their team evaluates staff and makes individual personnel decisions based on agency needs, ensuring they are best positioned to deliver for New Yorkers,” Calvello said. “The mayor is committed to delivering excellence in public service, and that will continue to guide staffing decisions across the administration.”

The bad blood between Mamdani and Adams runs deep. On his way out of City Hall, Adams took various steps to stymie his successor, including by launching a last-minute Charter Revision Commission and stacking an obscure municipal board with pro-landlord voices to try to block the new mayor’s favored rent freeze on rent-stabilized units. Mamdani, in turn, has spent the first few months of his administration laying blame squarely on Adams for creating the city budget crisis he says is inhibiting key elements of his agenda.

In that vein, Adams’ last-minute staffing maneuvers is yet another front in his war with Mamdani, who could now be seen as getting payback by kicking some of the former mayor’s aides to the curb.

Felipe-Adams, who worked for Adams when he was Brooklyn borough president, could not be reached for comment about her termination. Her LinkedIn profile says she has been on a “career break” since January.

Like Felipe-Adams, Johnson got his start working for Adams while he was Brooklyn borough president.

After also working on Adams’ successful 2021 mayoral election, Johnson was brought on as a special assistant at City Hall in early 2022 — a hire that spurred controversy at the time because Johnson had been fired as an aide to former Gov. David Paterson a decade earlier after shoving a girlfriend during a fight. Johnson initially faced potential time in prison on five misdemeanor charges, including assault, but avoided jail time after pleading guilty to a lower-level harassment charge.

On Nov. 11 — days after Mamdani’s election victory — Johnson was appointed as research projects coordinator with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, earning a $190,000 salary, personnel records show. The office’s website now identifies him as a senior adviser for community activation, responsible for establishing staff safety protocols, launching an employee wellness program and teaching staff to manage and de-escalate tense situations, according to an online job description.

Johnson earned $176,000 while in the mayor’s office, where he served as a “body man” for Adams, often accompanying him to press conferences and other events.

Johnson could not be reached for comment. Mamdani’s spokespeople declined to comment about his employment, but confirmed he remains on the city payroll.

Lashley, who served on Adams’ 2021 transition team, followed a similar trajectory as Johnson, working in the former mayor’s office from the first day of his administration as a special assistant, until 2024, when she was named appointments director with a $233,000 salary. She got a raise to $251,000 when she was transferred to a job as counsel at the Department of Probation on Dec. 9, records show.

“What do you want? What do you want?” Lashley told POLITICO over the phone Tuesday, before hanging up when asked about the nature of her exit from the Department of Probation.

“To be clear: the individual referenced is no longer employed by the Department and we do not comment on personnel matters,” Department of Probation spokesperson Regina Graham said when asked about Lashley.

Lashley is close with Ingrid Lewis-Martin, one of Adams’ most loyal friends and advisers, who’s currently under indictment on corruption charges.

Singer, a former NYPD sergeant, worked as a senior adviser to Randy Mastro, Adams’ former first deputy mayor, drawing $237,000 in annual salary. On Nov. 23, he was moved to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, where he continues to receive the same salary serving as the agency’s “secretary,” records show.

There are other Adams staffers who were able to remain city workers after being transferred in late 2025. They include JD Michaels, executive director of the former mayor’s ethnic and community media office; Shauna Stribula, a senior adviser in Adams’ office of health and human services; and Amaris Cockfield, a deputy press secretary for Adams.

Michaels is now at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, pulling down a $216,000 salary as an “administrative business promotion coordinator” — the same wage level as his previous job in the mayor’s office, according to personnel records. Stribula is earning $180,000 working at the same department as an assistant commissioner, a salary $20,000 higher than she earned while in the mayor’s office, records show.

Cockfield is earning $149,000 holding the same position as Michaels at Citywide Administrative Services, the same salary she held in the mayor’s office, according to the records.

Knowing they were unlikely to retain their roles in city government under Mamdani, officials in the very upper echelons of Adams’ administration resigned in advance of the new mayor’s inauguration. Former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry was among the top Adams aides in that category.

But in a previously unknown wrinkle, Daughtry was transferred to the Department of Probation on Dec. 31, Adams’ last day in office, with personnel records saying he became an “assistant director” at the agency.

Daughtry, who joined the Trump administration in January, told POLITICO on Tuesday his transfer to the Probation Department was “a mistake” caused by Adams aides who were winding down his Office of Public Safety and transferring civil service staff back to agencies they were on loan from.

“They thought I was a civilian employee, because the Public Safety Office was being shut down,” said Daughtry, a former NYPD official who has no record of previously working at the Department of Probation.

Graham, the Probation Department spokesperson, confirmed that Daughtry’s transfer was a “mistake” and said he “did not serve a full day” at the agency.

Similarly, Fred Kreizman, Adams’ Community Affairs Unit head, was transferred to the FDNY on Dec. 28, records reveal. But just weeks later, Kreizman was hired as the NYPD’s assistant commissioner of community affairs, as previously reported by POLITICO.

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that Kreizman was at the FDNY briefly in early 2026, but would not say why he held a title there before joining the police department. A spokesperson for the FDNY declined to comment.

Joe Anuta contributed reporting.