The ‘Verdict’

In the “Greatest City in the World,” curiously, corruption scandals at the highest levels of government are a long-standing legacy.

The mayor of one of his country’s major cities, a political figure at one time seen as the leader who would bring change to his party, has been accused in court of bribery, fraud and financial irregularities in his campaign. In a city and region known for corruption and patronage scandals at all levels, evidence was found in the mayor’s phone conversations that he had received money and favors, which were not reported appropriately, from influential businessmen and politicians to whom he gave favorable treatment once he was in power.

We’re not talking about the mayor of a medium-sized city in Colombia. We’re talking about the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. Until recently, he was considered one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. Now, he is facing accusations of bribery and later, when he was in office, of favorable treatment of the Turkish government, helping it to obtain construction permits for a new consulate, which initially did not comply with all the required safety regulations.

In his initial statement, Mayor Adams said that he has no intention of resigning. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove him from office. This situation has not arisen in the state since 1932, when then Gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt — who later would be elected for no less than four consecutive terms as U.S. president — was at the point of removing the mayor at the time, Jimmy Walker, from office. Walker was caught up in a bribery scandal that finally led him to resign as mayor.

In the “Greatest City in the World,” curiously, corruption scandals at the highest levels of government are a long-standing legacy. The Democratic Party political machine known as Tammany Hall prevailed in city government for decades. Gaining the support of the large communities of immigrants from Ireland and other countries that were pouring into the city, Tammany Hall became immensely powerful in New York, at the state level as well as in the city, from the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.

The Tammany Hall machine chose mayors and governors at will — like Jimmy Walker, mentioned above, or New York Gov. Al Smith, who was the Democratic presidential candidate in the 1928 election. At the same time, it was sustaining a system of cronyism and political patronage that let it maintain itself in power, get representation in various federal administrations and, in the process, enrich those in the party leadership.

It is a curious fact that reminds us that, contrary to the tendency that we Colombians — and, really, everyone — have of believing that our situation is special and unique, corruption and patronage arrangements have existed in many places and at many times throughout world history.

And although this corruption is lamentable and to be condemned, it is not necessarily the decisive factor that determines the path to prosperity for a group of people. I don’t think that New York blames all its problems (or, better, its achievements) on the “verdict” of corruption. And neither should Colombia.