Mayor Eric Adams pointedly refused on Friday to guarantee that he would release his federal and state tax returns, potentially denying the public key insights into his finances and laying the groundwork to break decades of pro-transparency precedent.
The forms could provide a look into Adams’ finances and earnings after they were subjected to close scrutiny during the 2021 mayoral campaign in light of revelations he failed to properly report income from rental properties.
Elected officials are not required to release their filings — but every mayor since at least Ed Koch has provided partial or complete copies of their income tax statements, according to contemporaneous accounts and ethics experts.
“I will comply with whatever rules are in place,” Adams told reporters at an unrelated press conference.
When asked point-blank if he would commit to providing his taxes, he said “no.”
Adams did say that he would complete the annual city-required conflict of interest disclosures, which are often less detailed than tax returns.
Hizzoner’s remarks came on the same day that Gov. Kathy Hochul released her family’s state and federal filings.
“Common Cause/NY uniformly demands that candidates and elected officials from the executive on down disclose their taxes,” said Susan Lerner, who heads the government reform group. “This is about transparency, plain and simple.”
If Adams refuses, he would be the first mayor in at least 40 years to not provide the press and public with the information.
Records show that Mayor Ed Koch released them at least four times, in 1978, 1979, 1984 and 1988. His successor, David Dinkins, released his too, as did Dinkins’ successor, Rudy Giuliani.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire media mogul, was criticized during his administration for only providing partial returns.
The Big Apple’s most recently departed chief executive, Bill de Blasio returned to the practice of providing the entire reports, which included key details like the amount he earned from renting his two properties in Park Slope.
Ethics experts called on Adams to continue with the traditional release.
“There’s a reason why that mayors release their taxes and it’s to reassure the public that they’re handling conflicts of interests appropriately — and you can’t do so without looking at their taxes,” said Blair Horner, the head of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
“There’s a reason that all the mayors have done so in modern times and it’s to reassure voters that they’re taking a ‘belt-and-suspenders approach’ to ethics.”
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile