In the first deep-dive of Season 6 – Seena, Ariel, and Justin discuss former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and his tenuous relationship with the truth. In Part One, we track his rise from a skateboarding (?), rat-owning (?) youth through his time in the NYPD, NY State Senate, and eventually all the way to City Hall where he proudly served the citizens of NYC (and Turkey).
00:04:20 — Eric Adams' origin story begins. Brownsville, Brooklyn, 1960. The absent father, the alcoholic butcher, the bag of clothes carried to school in case of eviction. The nail-studded bat.
00:07:10 — The Mickey incident. Adams and his brother rob a woman named Mickey, a dancer and part-time sex worker whose errands he'd been running. Later he claims he had a pet rat named Mickey. The hosts correctly identify this as a deliberate rewrite of his own biography.
00:09:00 — The precinct basement. Two white cops beat Adams and his brother on the groin and testicles specifically so the bruises won't show. A Black cop ends it. Adams sees the Black cop's power and wants it. This is his actual origin story.
00:22:40 — The One Brooklyn Fund. Adams creates a nonprofit as Borough President that functions as a shadow political operation — taking unlimited, undisclosed donations, routing Borough Hall rental fees into a private account, and using award galas where 70% of proceeds paid for the gala itself to build his future mayoral coalition.
00:34:30 — The Turkish connection begins. Two trips to Turkey arranged by a man whose explicit business was connecting Turkish corporations to influential politicians. Free business class tickets. The Cosmopolitan Suite at the St. Regis at a nearly 92% discount. An email claiming $10,000 in cash was left in a desk drawer. The cash did not exist.
00:39:50 — The straw donor scheme. Unable to take foreign campaign contributions legally, Adams is explicitly told by a Turkish entrepreneur that the donations will be funneled through American citizens. He says proceed. His staffers coordinate fake paper trails. Ten construction workers each donate $1,250, are secretly reimbursed, and the illegal donations unlock New York City's 8-to-1 public matching funds.
00:44:10 — The fire code favor. Turkey's $300 million Turkish House skyscraper needs to pass fire inspection for Erdogan's ribbon-cutting. It has significant fire code violations. Adams pressures the FDNY to approve it anyway. He texts about it. He does not delete the text. Ozgur tells him he is a true friend of Turkey. Adams responds: you are my brother.
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Music Credit and Sound FX: https://twitter.com/gograntgordon
Season Cover Art by: Cierra Monico
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