Ingrid Lewis-martin, Eric Adams’ Top And Longest-serving Aide, Resigns

NEW YORK — Ingrid Lewis-Martin, who engineered Eric Adams’ rise from police captain to mayor of the nation’s largest city, is abruptly resigning from City Hall.

Her departure, which takes effect immediately, comes at a precarious time for the mayor: He is heading to trial for a five-count federal indictment to which he pleaded not guilty, and is up for reelection next year. Lewis-Martin herself is being eyed by local law enforcement in a separate matter.

Few, if any, have been as close and loyal to the enigmatic mayor as the Brooklyn-based chaplain, whose husband was his friend in the NYPD.

“Ingrid has not been just a friend, a confidant, and trusted adviser, but also a sister,” Adams said in a statement to POLITICO. “We’ve always talked about when this day would come, and while we’ve long planned for it, it is still hard to know that Ingrid won’t be right next door every day.”

Lewis-Martin, who is 63, said she will retire and spend time with family. She is not expected to work on Adams' reelection campaign.

Lewis–Martin has served as chief adviser to the mayor since Adams became mayor in 2022. Though she only oversees appointments and human resources, her title and closeness to Adams has afforded her substantial power to work on issues throughout the administration.

And while she rankled some with her tough style and feuded with a cadre of newer aides who soared through the ranks, she also served as a closer on several critical matters, including striking a deal with the building service workers union over trash set-out times. She also helped finalize major rezonings.

Lewis-Martin's departure is sudden.

Sunday is her last day, and she will not be returning to work Monday, Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy said. But her resignation is not unexpected — she has been talking about leaving since before the administration’s legal troubles.

On a radio show in September, she even said that she had been planning to retire the second week in January, but that Adams’ indictment and all the investigations into his inner circle might keep her around longer — “because I’m going to be with my brother.”

Lewis-Martin will now join top administration officials who have left City Hall in the last three months after being subject to criminal investigation. None have been charged.

Officials from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office seized Lewis-Martin’s phones and raided her home in September, just as she stepped off a flight home from a vacation to Japan with a lobbyist and other city officials. Federal investigators from the Southern District of New York were also on hand to serve her a subpoena.

Lewis–Martin’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, declined to comment on the state of the dual investigations. She has not been charged with wrongdoing, and the scope has not been made public. Jesse Hamilton, who manages the city’s real estate portfolio and is a friend of Lewis-Martin, also had his phone seized at the airport at the same time.

He was the subject of scrutiny after POLITICO reported he altered an RFP to steer it to a mayoral donor.

Lewis-Martin has been friends with the mayor since the 1980s, when her husband met Adams in the police academy. She was involved in Brooklyn politics, and when Adams planned a 2006 run for state Senate, he turned to Lewis-Martin for help. She has been his top political adviser since, spanning his roles in the Legislature, as Brooklyn borough president and as mayor.

In a statement, Lewis-Martin thanked Adams “for seeing in me things that I did not see in myself.”

“I extend humble gratitude to you for encouraging me to be my authentic self and for having my back during some trying times,” she added. “As you would say, this has been a good ride; I will use author’s license and say that this has been an amazing ride.”