As political scandal grips NYC, a fictional press conference puzzles some New Yorkers

NEW YORK (AP) — Stone-faced authorities stepping up to a podium. A scrum of reporters jostling for a quote. Popping flashbulbs and pandemonium.

The spectacle played out across a public plaza from the federal courthouse where New York City Mayor Eric Adams was arraigned on federal bribery charges Friday morning — but it had nothing to do with the stunning indictment.

Instead, it was a far more familiar city occurrence: a film crew shooting an episode of “Law & Order,” one that happened to feature actors dressed as law enforcement officials briefing TV cameras and uncommonly attractive journalists.

“It’s just pure coincidence,” said one Law & Order crew member, who’d already informed several curious passersby that the clamor had nothing to do with the newly announced charges against Adams. “People have been asking us all day if the mayor is here. He is not,” said the crew member, who declined to give his name.

Still, the scene offered an uncanny simulacrum of the fast-moving corruption scandal that has created a political crisis, prompting the resignations of the real police commissioner and schools chancellor in recent weeks.

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On Thursday, federal prosecutors unsealed charges against Adams, making him the city’s first sitting mayor to be arrested since the 19th century.

“Cause of all the craziness that’s been happening in New York, it’s an easy mistake to make,” said Pat Quigley, a South Carolina resident visiting the city, as she took a photo of the film set.

Daniel Bhagat, 20, said he’d traveled to Manhattan from New Jersey in part to look at the nearby courthouse where Adams pleaded not guilty that morning — and was briefly thrilled to be so close to a potentially historic moment.

“I didn’t see the production equipment. I really thought it was Eric Adams,” he said, letting out a sign after learning the truth. “I don’t want to say I was disappointed. I do love the show.”

Like the long-running TV show, the federal inquiries around the Adams’ administration features its own ensemble cast.

Federal investigators have charged the mayor with accepting illegal campaign contributions and expensive overseas trips from a Turkish diplomatic official seeking to leverage his influence.

There are believed to be separate ongoing investigations that involve the former police commissioner and his brother; a different brother of the deputy mayor and schools chancellor; and the mayor’s director of Asian Affairs. On Friday afternoon, one of the mayor’s closest advisers was met at the airport by both federal and state investigators, who seized her phone and served her a subpoena.

Following his arraignment, Adams stood silent as his attorney, Alex Spiro, told throngs of reporters that his client was innocent of wrongdoing. “This isn’t even a real case,” Spiro said.

A few minutes later, on the other side of the bustling plaza, a passing man shouted his own assessment in the direction of the Law & Order set: “Eric Adams is going to jail!”