Embattled NYPD Commish Edward Caban no-shows 9/11 memorial ceremony amid resignation rumblings
Embattled NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban was a conspicuous no-show at the 9/11 memorial ceremony Wednesday amid rumblings of his looming resignation — and he wasn’t alone.
No top City Hall officials publicly touched by the federal investigations swirling around Mayor Eric Adams attended the solemn memorial at the site of the former World Trade Center.
Only a smattering of Adams administration and NYPD officials showed face at the annual ceremony — yet another sign that the scandals have disrupted the daily duties of New York City’s top public servants.
“They are two sheets in the wind,” a political source told The Post. “They weren’t going to show up.”
Caban didn’t want to be a distraction at the hallowed Lower Manhattan ceremony, sources said.
His absence was noteworthy for bucking a two-decade-old tradition of Big Apple police commissioners attending the ceremony marking Sept. 11, 2001 — a day in which 23 NYPD heroes perished in the attacks, and after which scores more died from illnesses related to the toxic and hazardous rescue and recovery at Ground Zero.
The Post could not find any past references to an NYPD commissioner being absent from the ceremony.
The COVID-stricken Adams himself was a no-show — his illness keeping him from standing alongside President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance.
Caban’s FDNY counterpart Robert Tucker attended the service, as did Adams Chief of Staff Camille Joseph-Varlack, Deputy Chief of Staff Menashe Shapiro, Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy, Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol and Community Affairs Unit Commissioner Fred Kreizman.
The only NYPD officials to attend were First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella and Mark Stewart, the department’s deputy commissioner for community affairs.
The meager showing by top New York City officials on the 9/11 anniversary ceremony — an event marking the worst terror attacks in US history — drew disbelief from many insiders, even considering the federal raids on Caban and other administration officials last week.
“I don’t know what’s going on over there,” another political source said.
Caban has faced growing calls for his resignation or termination, including by The Post’s editorial board, after federal agents busted into his Rockland County home last week and seized his electronic devices.
The raids rattled many in City Hall and the NYPD, where police brass have been meeting in parking lots to avoid potential bugs by the feds, according to sources.
As Adams faced a grilling by reporters Tuesday over the raids and probes, he pointedly did not say whether Caban’s days as police commissioner were numbered.
He also didn’t commit to himself resigning if charged with a crime.
“I’m committed to continue to provide for New Yorkers, and I’m not going to deal with hypotheticals,” he said.
