NEW YORK — New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, the hand-picked head of the nation’s largest school district and a longtime family friend of Mayor Eric Adams, announced his resignation Tuesday amid a series of federal corruption investigations swirling around City Hall.

Banks’ departure, effective at the end of the year, comes two weeks after his personal and professional phones were seized and apartment raided by federal investigators. He shares the home with his fiancee Sheena Wright, the first deputy mayor of New York City, who’s also been ensnared in the probe.

“After nearly 40 years of dedicated service to New York City’s public schools, I have made the decision to retire at the end of this year,” Banks said in a statement.

“I want to thank Mayor Adams for giving me the opportunity to serve as chancellor, and I am immensely proud of the progress we’ve made together — ensuring every child can read, expanding special education and gifted & talented programs, and creating innovative pathways for our students to secure rewarding careers and long-term success.”

Banks, who served in that role since the start of the Adams administration, will be the third top-ranking administration official to resign since news of the investigation broke in what appears to be fallout linked to the probe. Both Adams’ former police commissioner, Edward Caban, and Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg have stepped down in recent weeks.

Caban stepped down amid word the feds were looking at whether his brother James was squeezing nightlife venues for promises of special treatment by the NYPD. Zornberg resigned after Adams reportedly refused to fire several top officials she had advised he let go.

“On behalf of all New Yorkers, we thank Chancellor Banks for his service, and wish him well in his retirement at the end of the calendar year,” Adams said in a statement.

Among the issues sources say the feds are looking into are the business dealings of Banks’ brother, Terence Banks. Terence Banks’ company, The Pearl Alliance, represents multiple companies with city business dealings, including several with financial interests before his brothers David and Phil Banks’ agencies. Phil Banks is Adams’ deputy mayor for Public Safety.

The Daily News previously reported the head of a STEM education company with city business interests got a private sit-down with David Banks within weeks of hiring his consultant brother. Another client of his brothers’, SaferWatch, ran a pilot of panic buttons in local public schools.

No one has been accused of wrongdoing to date, and the full scope of the investigations remain unclear.

At a press conference shortly after Caban’s resignation, Banks refused to answer a question on whether he’d step down and skirted questions about his involvement in his brother’s lobbying firm.

“As it relates to myself, I have always lived my life with integrity, every day of my life. And anybody who knows me knows that,” he said.

_______

(New York Daily News writer Josephine Stratman contributed to this story.)

_________

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.