Eric Adams Wants YOU to Chip in to His $500,000 Legal Defense Fund

What do you do when you're the target of a wide-ranging federal inquiry into possible corruption and you hire a very expensive law firm and your legal bills are mounting up? If you're Eric Adams, you set up a legal defense fund. Last month, when questioned about the fundraising effort, Adams claimed "New Yorkers reached out" pleading for a way to help him. 

According to the Post, Eric Adams is now trying to raise $500,000 for his legal defense fund by mid-December. 

Adams's campaign attorney Vito Pitta told the Post people will be able to donate soon, adding, "We expect strong support."

So who else is helping him raise these funds? Not many details have been released. As Politico reported, Peter Aschkenasy, the restaurateur and former chair of Adams's much-scrutinized nonprofit One Brooklyn, is a trustee. Adams's former chief of staff Frank Carone is in the mix as well, but in an "informal" capacity. 

“I will, obviously and enthusiastically, support the mayor, my friend, and I will encourage my friends and family to donate,” Carone told the Post. 

The first public filing of donors to the Eric Adams Legal Defense Trust is due January 15. (By the way, if you're looking to donate to a worthy cause, here's a suggestion!)

We would like to donate to you the following links:

• Nooooooooooooooo!
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• "Landlords Are Tanking Their Tenants' Credit Scores"
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• Via Gothamist: "New York City’s public hospital system in late October approved up to $324.7 million in contracts for private security services at the city’s 'humanitarian relief centers' for migrants—and local taxpayers are on the hook for the spending. That’s almost double the amount NYC Health + Hospitals, which is managing the intake of new arrivals, approved just months earlier for security expenses at the facilities."
• "Teacher who ranted on social media to 'let Gaza burn' booted from NYC school"

Programming Note: The Hell Gate team is on a company retreat for the rest of the week, tenting our fingers thoughtfully and plotting our ongoing ascent to the top of the media universe. We'll be back to our regular posting schedule next week!