NEW YORK CITY - The dominos continue to fall in New York City government, as Lisa Zornberg, the city’s chief counsel, is resigning amid a series of raids targeting city police officials and close aides to Mayor Eric Adams, The New York Post reports.
Zornberg resigned just days after NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned last week. She had previously served as the senior Manhattan federal prosecutor and was the lead attorney for Adams and City Hall since July 2023.
“I am deeply grateful to Mayor Adams for giving me the opportunity to serve the city, and I strongly support the work he has done and continues to do for New Yorkers,” Zornberg said in a statement.
Adams thanked Zornberg and announced that a replacement would be named in a matter of days.
“We appreciate all the work Lisa has done for our administration and, more importantly, the city over the past 13 months. These are hard jobs and we don’t expect anyone to stay in them forever,” Adams said in a statement.
Zorberg’s resignation follows an FBI raid last week that targeted Caban’s home, as well as other members of the NYPD in what sources say is a corruption investigation involving potential influence peddling, the Post reported.
In addition to Caban, his twin brother, James, is also subject to a federal investigation for his role as a “fixer” for swanky Manhattan restaurants and clubs as part of a “consulting” business.
Besides Caban, the FBI also raided the homes of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Phil Banks, and a townhouse shared by School Chancellor David Banks and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, and also seized their electronic devices. Nobody has yet been charged with any crimes however, an investigation is ongoing.
Caban reportedly resigned to help the NYPD “save face,” and his tenure is among the shortest in the agency's storied history.
“The news around recent developments has created a distraction for our department, and I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD,” Caban wrote in a department-wide email to the NYPD.
The New York Times reported that his replacement will be, at least in the interim, former FBI official Tom Donlon. Donlon is a Bronx native with an extensive background in federal law enforcement. Donlon recently ran Global Security Resolutions, a private security and consulting company founded in 2020.
In announcing Donlon’s temporary appointment, Adams called him “an experienced law enforcement professional who has worked at the local, state, federal, and international levels.”
Donlon previously served as the director of New York’s Homeland Security office, as well as for the FBI. He also served in counterterrorism roles domestically and abroad and in security for Wall Street firms.
Donlon graduated from Iona University in New Rochelle, New York, in 1976.
Donlon left his role with the state’s homeland security office to become worldwide security chief at BlackRock. Read into that what you may.
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