Eric Adams' Brother Gets $210K Salary Despite Demotion: Reports

New York City NY

12 January, 2022

1:57 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Eric Adams' brother lost a plum job title after critics cried nepotism, but still will make a pretty penny, according to reports. Bernard Adams will earn $210,000 as head of mayoral security, the New York Times first reported. The job is a technically a demotion from the deputy police commissioner role Eric Adams had appointed him to, but it's not a significant pay cut. Originally, Bernard Adams had been poised to make $240,000 a year. The minor pay cut and demotion didn't do much to mollify critics. "Let me see if I've got this right. Eric Adams is going to pay his brother $210,000 a year to do *LESS*?" tweeted Jeff Strabone, an activist. "Get the f*** out of here." Eric Adams has defended hiring his brother. He said during an interview on CNN that he needed someone he could trust as his head of security. "In a time when we see an increase in white supremacy and hate crimes, I have to take my security in a very serious way," he said. But critics quickly raised questions about whether Bernard Adams — who mostly recently served as Virginia parking administrator — had qualifications other being the mayor's brother. They also weren't shy about questioning Eric Adams' integrity. "Blatant nepotism," Curtis Sliwa, who lost the mayor's race to Adams, tweeted. The New York Times also reported mayor's officials didn't begin to seek approval for the hire from the city's Conflicts of Interest Board until Jan. 7 — more than a week after Bernard Adams started working for his brother and after the New York Post first reported his appointment. Read the New York Times report here.