Greater than two years in the past, Mayor Eric Adams’s brother Bernard uprooted his life as a Virginia parking administrator and got here to New York Metropolis to work in his older brother’s nascent administration. However that job, as a deputy police commissioner, didn’t work out as deliberate.
Now, Bernard is leveraging his relationship with the mayor to launch a foray into philanthropy.
In partnership with Alisa Roever, a self-described jet-setter who was mates with Ivana Trump and celebrated Easter this yr at Mar-a-Lago, Bernard Adams has based a corporation whose objective is to attach New York Metropolis’s youth to arts and tradition, in keeping with the web site for the brand new group, Angels Helpers NYC.
The group had been planning to host a black-tie gala on the restaurant Osteria La Baia, however then switched venues to 432 Park Avenue, a skyscraper on Manhattan’s so-called Billionaire’s Row. The gala was to characteristic the mayor and a former Miss World Ukraine, Anna Zaiachkivska, as “particular friends,” in keeping with an invite for the occasion subsequent Thursday. Tickets to the dinner price between $500 and $1,000.
However on Thursday, Ms. Roever stated the group was suspending the gala, citing scheduling points with a few of the youngsters who have been imagined to carry out.
Integrated in March, the nonprofit’s mission is a noble and expansive one, in keeping with its New York State registration papers: It’s “dedicated to coping with psychological well being points, stopping cruelty to youngsters, fostering help for abused girls and youngsters, and embarking on academic, literary, and scientific endeavors.”
“These initiatives purpose not solely to discover therapies for ailments and sicknesses but additionally to supply help to the needy in and round New York Metropolis,” it goes on, including that it goals to hitch forces with companies and authorities businesses.
Nothing in metropolis legislation or ethics pointers seems to ban the mayor’s brother from making a philanthropic nonprofit, however his management position raises the potential that donors to the mayor’s marketing campaign, which is at the moment the topic of a federal prison investigation, will contribute to the group as a solution to curry favor with him.
Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the mayor, had no quick remark.
Ms. Roever stated the group has not finished any charitable work but. On its webpage, a big image options dozens of kids concerned in Highbridge Voices, a Bronx group that gives musical instruction to native youngsters.
Richard Owen, the Highbridge Voices chief govt, stated it was his understanding that his group was imagined to reap a portion of the proceeds from the now-postponed gala.
He had thought-about the timing of the partnership “very lucky,” given how badly his group was hit by the pandemic. Mr. Owen stated he believed he had been related to Angels Helpers by way of considered one of his board members.
He declined to touch upon Ms. Roever’s rivalry that there have been scheduling points along with his musicians.
The management workforce of Angels Helpers NYC contains Ms. Zaiachkivska, who’s listed because the gala’s co-chair, and Ms. Roever, the group’s co-founder.
Ms. Roever is a former mannequin who has written for Haute Dwelling, a Florida-based luxurious journal, the place an writer web page describes her as “a full-time spouse, mom and jet-setter.” She can also be acquainted with the mayor: Her Instagram web page options images of the 2 socializing, in addition to photographs of her at a few of the mayor’s go-to institutions, together with the personal membership Zero Bond and Osteria La Baia, considered one of his favourite eating places.
Ms. Roever stated she met Bernard Adams at a charitable occasion for the Noel Shoe Museum Gala on the Metropolitan Membership in October. “We related on a ardour to assist folks in want,” she stated in a textual content message. On the occasion, Mr. Adams donated a pair of his brother’s sneakers, she recalled.
Bernard Adams didn’t reply to requests for remark. The mayor is a retired police captain.
His position and whereabouts have been considerably shrouded in current months, after he left the town’s employment. A retired New York Police Division sergeant, he was first employed shortly after Eric Adams grew to become mayor in January 2022; The New York Put up reported that the mayor put in Bernard as a deputy police commissioner, a place that was anticipated to pay about $240,000 a yr. After an outcry, the mayor, a retired police captain, modified his thoughts and stated his brother would as a substitute fulfill a diminished position, overseeing the mayor’s safety, for a wage of $210,000.
Amid the furor, the mayor retroactively sought steerage from the New York Metropolis Conflicts of Curiosity Board, which dominated that the his brother may earn not more than $1 a yr. Bernard Adams, who had a $64,000-a-year pension, lasted a yr beneath these circumstances.
Across the similar time, the mayor’s Division of Training named Bernard Adams’s spouse, Sharon Adams, a “strategic initiative specialist,” with a wage of $150,000, in keeping with The Metropolis, a nonprofit publication. The mayor stated that each one hiring selections are merit-based.
Like her husband, Ms. Adams is attempting on different new roles. Marketing campaign data point out she is now serving as treasurer of the mayor’s re-election marketing campaign.
Susan C. Beachy contributed analysis.
