Real Estate and Building Safety

Manhattan prosecutors have filed a new 170‑page brief expanding bribery allegations against Ingrid Lewis‑Martin, former senior adviser and close confidant to ex‑New York City Mayor Eric Adams, accusing her of accepting 2‑carat diamond earrings worth about $3,000 from developers Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi and then pressuring building officials to fast‑track their projects despite safety concerns. The filing says that after the 2022 gift, Lewis‑Martin leaned on the Department of Buildings’ acting commissioner to expedite renovation approvals for a Manhattan hotel owned by Vaid, even as inspectors raised 'legitimate safety concerns,' and that she texted her son boasting Vaid would have his fashion line '100 percent' covered and would help him open a Chick‑fil‑A franchise. Lewis‑Martin and her son, DJ Glenn Martin II, already face charges they took over $100,000 in bribes from the same developers, and she was separately charged last August with trading political favors—such as killing a Brooklyn bike lane and steering shelter contracts—in exchange for cash, home renovations and even a speaking role on the TV show 'Godfather of Harlem.' Her lawyer dismisses the lengthy new filing as a sign of prosecutors’ 'insecurity' in their case, while all four defendants have pleaded not guilty and Adams, whose own federal corruption case was dropped last year, is not accused of wrongdoing here. The case underscores persistent concerns about pay‑to‑play politics and real‑estate influence in New York City government, with prosecutors now tying alleged favors directly to specific safety‑sensitive permitting decisions.