NYC Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Adams’ right hand, set to resign in latest City Hall turmoil
First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright will be forced to resign, The Post has learned — the latest high-level exit from Mayor Eric Adams’ increasingly troubled administration.
Wright’s anticipated departure, as soon as Friday, was confirmed by several sources with knowledge of the situation. It comes exactly one month after the feds raided the home she shares with her husband, outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks.
It’s not an amicable break, with City Hall forcing Wright out the door as Gov. Kathy Hochul has been pressuring Adams to clean house following his federal indictment and a swirl of investigation around his top officials, sources said.
“She’s leaving because she’s being shown the door,” one source said.
Reached by phone, Wright emphatically told The Post “not true” before hanging up.
A City Hall spokesperson didn’t confirm or deny Wright’s coming departure.
“As always, no personnel changes are confirmed until it’s announced,” a rep said in a statement.
During the last forced exit from City Hall, Wright’s husband Banks was among the last people to know he was being shown the door, sources said.
Wright was unhappy with how Banks was shockingly pushed out of his job months earlier than planned, insiders said.
Adams administration officials are mulling over three replacements for Wright, who serves as Hizzoner’s right-hand deputy mayor, one source said.
The potential replacements include Anthony Shorris, a veteran of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration who previously served as first deputy mayor; Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, who leads Adams’ housing efforts; and Camille Joseph Varlack, the mayor’s chief of staff.
Wright’s replacement will start next week, sources said.
The back-to-back exits of newlyweds Wright and Banks follow Adams becoming the first sitting mayor in New York City history to face federal criminal charges.
The unprecedented situation prompted Hochul to tell Hizzoner to clean house, or risk ouster himself before he stands trial.
The home Wright shares with Banks was raided by federal agents during a bevy of sweeps on top Adams administration officials and allies of the mayor Sept. 4.
The feds took Wright’s and Banks’ electronic devices, but the purpose behind the raids remained murky.
In the weeks after the raid, Wright publicly appeared by Adams’ side several times.
But behind the scenes, personal and political fractures apparently grew.
Adams quietly issued an executive order last week — just hours after he was hit with charges — saying that if the embattled Wright couldn’t perform her job, her powers would transfer to Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom.
Wright, as first deputy mayor, oversaw the city’s budget and finance offices as well as its recruiting and hiring agency, the Department of Citywide Administrative Service, and the policy arm of the administration, the Office of Policy & Planning.
Meanwhile, Banks said late last month he would retire at year’s end — an announcement that unfolded right before it was revealed that a grand jury handed down a five-count indictment against Adams, accusing him of defrauding taxpayers out of $10 million in matching campaign funds and taking $123,000 in bribes in the form of travel perks from Turkish officials and nationals.
On the heels of Adams’ criminal charges, longtime partners Banks and Wright tied the knot in Martha’s Vineyard — a move that many saw as a potential attempt to claim “spousal privilege,” the right of a wedded couple to decline to testify against each other.
But the newly married pair barely had time to enjoy marital bliss.
Banks learned late Wednesday from Adams that the chancellor would be pushed out of his job early, with Melissa Aviles-Ramos taking over as schools chief Oct. 16.
The surprise move upset Banks, who issued a statement through a public relations firm — a move that raised questions about whether the city and Department of Education still speak on his behalf.
One day later, a clearly frustrated Wright lashed out at a Post reporter and photographer when they reached her on a Harlem sidewalk.
She grabbed the photographer’s camera and pleaded for “privacy,” despite being a public official who pulls in $250,000 a year and saw her husband conspicuously canned after a high-profile raid on their home.
“This is harassment when you’re following me down the street,” she told the duo, according to video.
“It’s very aggressive. And it just feels unnecessary. I’m not going to give you a statement.”
— Additional reporting by Aneeta Bhole
