New York City Hall attorney resigns

New York City Hall’s chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, resigned from her post in Mayor Eric Adams’s administration, City Hall announced late Saturday night.

Zornberg has served as the top lawyer for Adams and City Hall since July 2023.

Neither Adams nor Zornberg provided an explanation for her departure in their respective statements sent by City Hall.

“We appreciate all the work Lisa has done for our administration and, more importantly, the city over the past 13 months. These are hard jobs, and we don’t expect anyone to stay in them forever. We wish Lisa all the best in her future endeavors,” Adams said in his statement.

“The other senior members of the counsel’s team will remain in their roles to ensure the office continues to fully operate without issue, and we expect to name an acting chief counsel in the coming days,” he continued.

Zornberg’s statement read, “I am deeply grateful to Mayor Adams for giving me the opportunity to serve the city, and I strongly support the work he has done and continues to do for New Yorkers.”

Zornberg’s departure comes as federal investigators appear to be accelerating their probe involving members of Adams’s inner circle.

Just days ago, former New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned, nearly a week after the FBI searched his home and seized his devices. The FBI also conducted searches at the homes of three top deputies to Adams.

Other officials whose devices were taken by the FBI last week include First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety; and Timothy Pearson, a mayoral adviser and former official with the New York Police Department (NYPD), The Associated Press reported last week, citing two individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is spearheading the probe, whose subject remains unclear. Earlier this month, the NYPD told The Hill that it was aware of and cooperating with an investigation involving members of its service but did not expand on any details of the probe.