On September 25th, 2024, John Jay Alumnus Eric Adams made history as the first sitting mayor to be federally indicted. He was accused of accepting prohibited foreign campaign donations and other bribes. 

The indictment sent shockwaves throughout the New York political sphere, causing Chancellor David Banks and Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright to be among the numerous government officials who called for Mayor Adams to resign.

To some, such as junior and philosophy major Prisca-Lily Preston, the indictment was no surprise.

“He is very shady. The minute he got elected, I’ve felt he’s a shady individual, and obviously what we have seen through the news with what he’s been doing, yes, he’s very shady,” said Preston.

Students such as Alpheaus Marcus, former State Assembly candidate and law & society major, felt the September indictment was reflective of a larger problem in city politics.

“A lot of politicians do the same thing they’re accusing him of doing. It wasn’t until he started speaking out about the migrant situation that it became a hot topic,” said Marcus.

Preston worried that the situation with Adams was enabling corruption. 

“It [Adam’s actions as mayor] does affect us in every way, what he does. And him not fully explaining his plans and keeping some private, doing work with the Turkish people has come back, and it could have a detrimental effect on all of us,” said Preston. 

The political whirlwind in New York, occurring mere months before Democrats vote in the June 2025 mayoral primaries in which Eric Adams is seeking a second term, took another sharp turn on February 10th, 2025, when the United States Department of Justice, under the orders of the new Trump administration, had federal prosecutors drop the charges against Mayor Adams. 

Similarly to the September indictment, many students at John Jay, such as junior and criminal justice major Yanghao Fang, were not surprised by the actions of Trump’s Justice Department.

“It’s [interference by the Justice Department] to be expected from his previous actions. He’s kind of shady,” said Fang. “I feel like Mayor Adams was kind of kissing his [President Trump’s] ass,” continued Fang. 

Shortly after the Justice Department’s intervention into Mayor Adams’ case, Mayor Adams met with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan.

Many attendees of Mayor Adam’s alma mater, such as criminal justice management major Joceline Vargas, hold him in very little regard, and their sentiments are reflected in their intentions for the upcoming mayoral election.

“I do definitely identify more as Democratic, but I definitely wouldn’t vote for him. He’s not a good person as we’ve seen,” said Vargas. 

Preston, who plans to vote in the Democratic primaries in June, has not decided which candidate to support. However, Preston made clear that for both the primaries in June and the general election in November she will not be voting for Mayor Adams.

“No, not at all, definitely not Adams,” said Preston. 

Fang also expressed that it is extremely unlikely he would vote for a Democratic ticket that included Eric Adams.

“I would need to do more research, but if it were Mayor Adams [in November], I probably wouldn’t vote for the Democratic Party,” explained Fang. 

Marcus held a similar sentiment regarding Mayor Adams future.

“He’s not gonna win. He’s not gonna win. I always said Eric was a one term mayor,” he said. “If he’s on the ballot in November I might hold my vote,” said Marcus.

Angelina Barrett, a junior at John Jay, was willing to offer some benefit of the doubt to Adams, but even she couldn’t see past his alleged connections.

“It’s [the federal intervention] a little questionable. I would say probably not [vote for Adams] just because of what people accused him of,” she said. “That means he has some kind of relationship going on that’s not legal. I mean, something must be going on, but you really never know,” said Barrett.