Former top aide to NYC mayor among 7 facing new charges in City Hall corruption probe
NEW YORK (AP) — A former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams was hit Thursday with a second wave of bribery charges, with prosecutors alleging she exchanged political favors for cash, home renovations and a speaking role on a TV show.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ closest confidant and former chief of staff, was among seven people indicted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office in a sweeping expansion of a corruption probe that has dogged the mayor’s administration for two years.
“If you were willing to pay, Ms. Lewis-Martin was open for business,” prosecutor Guy Tardanico said in court.
Adams himself has not been charged and isn’t a target, prosecutors said, but the case thrusts corruption allegations back into focus as the Democrat tries to regain voters’ trust ahead of a contested November election.
Lewis-Martin resigned last December before her indictment in a separate case in which she and her son are accused of taking bribes in exchange for speedy approval of construction projects. They have pleaded not guilty in that case, and it is still pending. Lewis-Martin has continued to volunteer for the Adams campaign while awaiting trial.
Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, vowed to fight the new charges, saying, “This is not justice — it is a distortion of the truth and a troubling example of politically motivated ‘lawfare.’”
Lewis-Martin and the other defendants — including a former state lawmaker and the owners of a Brooklyn film and TV studio — pleaded not guilty and were released without bail.
Bike lanes to ‘Blue Bloods’
Lewis-Martin now faces four additional indictments on charges of conspiracy and bribe receiving, in a series of allegations that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described as “classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government.”
In one case, prosecutors say Lewis-Martin pushed the city to nix a planned bike lane redesign of a street near a soundstage studio owned by two of Adams' political donors, siblings Tony and Gina Argento. In exchange, Lewis-Martin received perks including money and a speaking role on the TV show “Godfather of Harlem,” which stars Forest Whitaker and is filmed at the Argentos' Broadway Stages.
Tony Argento also promised to be her “agent” and get her more roles on that show and the police drama “Blue Bloods,” court papers say.
The Argentos, who both pleaded not guilty, generated headlines for bankrolling the campaign against the street's redesign, which the city had vowed to do after a string of pedestrian fatalities. Adams' administration halted the project in 2023, years into its development, amid opposition from both business leaders and Lewis-Martin.
Then, just days after investigators seized Lewis-Martin’s devices last year, the city reversed itself, agreeing to add traffic-calming measures and a bike lane favored by activists.
Lewis-Martin is also accused of steering shelter contracts toward deals that benefited developer Tian Ji Li, who is also charged and pleaded not guilty.
In a 2024 conversation with former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton, who oversaw real estate for city agencies, prosecutors allege she told him: “whatever site TJ wants, I need him to get them. Because that’s our … people,” punctuating the last statement with an expletive. In a later call, Hamilton allegedly assured her: “TJ, he’s, he’s first. He’s first in line.”
Lewis-Martin also pressed city officials to expedite approvals for a karaoke bar Li was building.
In 2023, prosecutors said, Li transferred more than $50,000 he’d received as part of a shelter contract to the karaoke bar, and then wired around the same amount to Lewis-Martin’s son, Glenn D. Martin, who is also charged and pleaded not guilty.
Hamilton is not charged in that incident, but is charged alongside Lewis-Martin for helping developer Yechiel Landau in exchange for renovations on a property she owned, as well as Hamilton's home.
Landau and Hamilton both pleaded not guilty. A mayor’s office spokesperson said Hamilton has resigned from his position with the city.
More political headaches for Adams
The new indictments could add to political headwinds already facing the mayor, whose own indictment on federal bribery charges was abandoned by President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year .
The scandals have weakened Adams and opened the door to challengers in the upcoming election, including the Democratic primary winner, Zohran Mamdani, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Adams is running as an independent, claiming the case brought against him — in which he was accused of accepting bribes and travel perks from foreign interests — prevented him from campaigning in the primary. Those charges were dismissed in April following an extraordinary intervention by U.S. Justice Department officials, who said the case was impeding Adams from assisting in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In the months since, the status of other federal probes linked to Adams’ key allies, including his former police commissioner and several deputy mayors, has remained uncertain. The new charges were brought by Bragg, who prosecuted Trump last year and who is also running for reelection.
A spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, Todd Shapiro, said Adams “has not been accused of any wrongdoing” and though Lewis-Martin no longer works for his administration, “she has been a friend and colleague of the mayor for over 40 years, and he knows her as a devoted public servant.”
Federal prosecutors last week wrapped up their two remaining Adams-related cases.
Mohamed Bahi, who was the mayor’s chief liaison to the Muslim community, pleaded guilty to soliciting straw donations to Adams’ campaign, and Brooklyn construction magnate Erden Arkan was sentenced to a year of probation for his involvement in a straw donor scheme.
The new charges came a day after a stunning report that a former longtime Adams adviser, who resigned from his administration while under FBI scrutiny, handed a reporter a potato chip bag filled with cash after a campaign event.
