Politico airs Adams's ties to "friend with checkered past," downplays Woodland controversy. BP Adams didn't disclose ties to scofflaw club when defending it.

Big picture, Mayor Eric Adams is earning kudos, with an admiring New York Times essay yesterday by Fordham political scientist Christina Greer, headlined A Leader Who Defies Easy Political Labeling. Finally., and another praising his rhetoric on public safety in the Sunday New York Daily News from columnist Harry Siegel, Eric Adams’ words — and the Democrats’ actions.

Look in some other directions, and it gets more complicated.

A mainstream news outlet delved--not as deeply as it could've--into one of Adams's more curious associations, the former operator (or was it owner?) of the controversial Park Slope restaurant/club Woodland, closed in early 2020 by the State Liquor Authority after an enormous array of evidence and complaints. 

Politico 2/5/22 published New York mayor holds court in swanky restaurant alongside friend with checkered past:

That friend is Zhan “Johnny” Petrosyants, a restaurateur who was charged in a money laundering case in federal court eight years ago. He and his twin brother, Robert, were indicted on 11 counts for taking part in a check-cashing scheme that involved medical billing companies. Johnny Petrosyants pleaded guilty to one of those counts and was sentenced to probation and community service, while his brother was sentenced to six months in federal prison. Together with another defendant, they had to forfeit nearly $700,000.

Adams counts Johnny Petrosyants among his closest friends: They talk frequently and spend extensive time together, dining at restaurants and hobnobbing at clubs like the exclusive Zero Bond in Noho. Adams, who sleeps just a few hours each night, sometimes stays at Petrosyants’ Midtown condo in Trump World Tower, according to five people familiar with their habits. Across the Hudson River in Fort Lee, N.J., the two own condos nearly across the street from each other.

(Emphasis added)

Defensive deflection

An Adams spokesman denied that the mayor slept at Petrosyants' condo and claimed:

“Eric has a long history of helping people through difficult times, helping to turn their lives around, and the mutual friend thought Eric would be able to help. That continues to be the nature of their relationship — one of friendship and mentorship and support.”

Really? Adams helped Petrosyants and his brother defend their operation of Woodland. It's part of a pattern of weaponizing identity politics. 

And if that "longstanding friendship" began "when Johnny was in the midst of a personal crisis"--presumably the legal troubles that culminated in a plea eight years ago--that means Adams, while vociferously defending Woodland and reflexively blaming neighbors' concerns on racism, failed to disclose that he was backing a friend. 

No wonder Adams, in a podcast interview, showed what I called "uncanny familiarity" with the State Liquor Authority's case against Woodland.

At one meeting, as I reported, Adams, the borough's first Black Borough President, told locals, “I’m not going to be closing people down because folks are saying, ‘I don’t like the way customers look.'"

“Vomit doesn’t have a racial tint,” responded one resident. “Y’know, if someone comes to my neighborhood and craps on my stoop, that’s not OK. And you should care about that.”

So Politico let a spokesman spin without gathering counter-evidence. On another issue, they digged harder, citing unnamed sources, to confirm that Adams is a pescatarian, not a vegan.

About Petrosyants

From the article:

Petrosyants referred questions about his connection to the mayor to his attorney, Akiva Ofshtein, who owns multiple restaurants that the twins have either managed or promoted. Ofshtein said that the mayor and Johnny Petrosyants simply hit it off more than a decade ago, and that Adams has since been a helpful friend over the years.

That's a generous, even myopic, reading of the evidence, as I pointed out .

"Petrosyants referred questions about his connection to the mayor to his attorney, Akiva Ofshtein, who owns multiple restaurants that the twins have either managed or promoted."

Or: evidence suggests the twins were *owners* but were not authorized by State Liquor Authority https://t.co/31G4BRpD94 pic.twitter.com/6sNVC1v2hN

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) February 5, 2022

About Woodland

From the article:

And in 2019, Adams, along with his now chief of staff, Frank Carone, defended Ofshtein’s Brooklyn brunch spot Woodland from a public backlash and mounted an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the State Liquor Authority from revoking the spot’s liquor license.

“He tried to help us out many times with Woodland because it was such a flashpoint between Park Slopers and the African American, Caribbean clientele,” Ofshtein said.

That first link was to my coverage, which gave ample evidence of a scofflaw operation--as well as some questionable behavior by Carone--so it's dismaying that Politico would let Ofshtein offer such a self-serving quote. 

Why should Ofstein, who lost his license for Woodland, be treated as a credible source, without rebuttal? Why not talk to neighbors, or consult some of their affidavits, or police testimony?

@politico @SallyGold
Given his closeness to Petrosyants, Mr. Adams could have worked to find solutions to the litany of issues being raised by those who lived near Woodlands. That he choose demagoguery over mediation says something about Mr. Adams' ambitions and priorities

— gsanoff (@mzkpeople) February 7, 2022

A closing copout

The choice to quote a political insider--surely interested in keeping friendly ties to the mayor--to close the article by essentially absolving Adams is a copout:

Former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who has spent time with Adams and Johnny Petrosyants at Zero Bond, described the two as having “a long, close friendship and relationship, which is not related to the ups and downs of political life.”

“It's important for any mayor to have close personal friends that they trust and that they don't have to discuss work with,” Johnson added. “And Eric is someone who has said on multiple occasions he doesn't judge people by mistakes they've made in their lives. He's a person who believes in redemption and a comeback and he looks for those qualities in all sorts of people but especially the people that are closest to him in his life.”

Except there's evidence not of "mistakes" but seriously unethical behavior, which led to prosecution, and then continued unethical behavior, denied by Adams.

All in the service of $.