Big Business Saw an Ally in Eric Adams, and Overlooked His Issues
The New York Times
New York’s business community threw its support behind Mr. Adams, and continued backing him even as his legal problems began to threaten the governance of the city.
It wasn’t quite love at first sight, but it did not take New York’s business elite long to embrace Eric Adams.
As he rose to the top of the polls in the mayor’s race in 2021 — and more traditionally business-friendly candidates sank to the bottom — the power brokers who help shape city politics looked past Mr. Adams’s previous ethical problems and backed his candidacy.
Over the nearly three years since he took office, many in the business community stuck by him as his legal troubles mounted, at least in part because of his pro-business agenda.
Now, corruption charges imperil Mr. Adams’s ability to enact any policy goals, and even threaten to end his mayoralty. And some in the business community are grappling with the responsibility they may bear for a crisis that has engulfed the city.
John Catsimatidis, the billionaire grocery store chain owner, said big business was willing to overlook Mr. Adams’s issues because he “was the best-case scenario for the business community.” That held true, he said, even as it became clear that he was surrounding himself with unqualified and in some cases unscrupulous aides and advisers.
