Buzzards are circling NYPD boss Edward Caban, yet before Mayor Adams can even start thinking about replacing him, Phil Banks needs to be taken out of the equation.
As deputy mayor for public safety, Banks has essentially run the force, turning the commissioner job into a figurehead role and making it far less attractive to top-tier applicants.
If Caban is to be replaced, that situation must be resolved first.
At the very least, Banks should play no role in tapping Caban’s successor — as he did in choosing Caban in the first place.
Truth is, it’s hard to make a case for keeping Banks on at all: Caban needs to step down because of the feds’ corruption probe involving his twin brother James and perhaps him.
Yet the feds are also looking into whether Banks steered contracts to his brother Terence’s clients.
And remember, Phil Banks was an unindicted co-conspirator in another corruption scandal a decade ago, caught taking gifts from influence-peddlers who were ultimately convicted of bribery.
On top of that, the city has made only minor progress against crime with Banks overseeing the NYPD: Adams ran for mayor vowing to lower COVID-era crime rates, yet last year saw 23% more murders than the year before the pandemic (2019) — and 33% more felonies overall.
Banks doesn’t deserve all the blame: The rash of state and criminal-justice “reforms,” which handcuff cops and ensure perps go free, have certainly driven up crime rates.
As has Hizzoner’s failure to bulk up the rank-and-file headcount, now shrinking to levels not seen in decades.
Yet to make better inroads in crime-fighting, Adams needs to find an outstanding new, baggage-free police boss — and then give him (or her) wide latitude to run the department as he sees fit.
End the infighting, second-guessing and backstabbing that drove the mayor’s first PC, Keechant Sewell, to skedaddle after just 18 months.
That might mean looking outside the department, especially because the leadership issues, reforms and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s focus on diversity have driven out many qualified possiblities.
If the mayor does tap from within the department, a top choice would be Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, a 34-year vet who’s highly qualified, experienced and able to navigate City Hall politics.
Maddrey, who recently earned a law degree, also has strong community ties and is well-liked by City Council members on both sides.
Some see First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella as a strong choice. Yet she lacks the experience of someone like Maddrey; same for Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.
One intriguing choice would be Jessica Tisch, now the death-on-rats sanitation commissioner, who served years as a top civilian at One Police Plaza.
The old guard might bristle at a female commish who never served in the ranks, but her family wealth and long and loyal service to the city would put corruption completely off the table.
At bottom, Adams needs to choose on the basis of merit, not connections, race or gender — and tap someone with no ethical baggage.
With the city’s war on crime in the balance, the NYPD needs the strongest leadership he can find.
