Anthony ‘Tony’ Herbert, the former Citywide Public Housing Liaison at the New York City Mayor’s Office under Eric Adams, was formally indicted this week with federal charges of committing bribery, kickback, and fraud offenses.
“He allegedly took advantage of his role to line his pockets by offering unfair advantages to certain businesses,” said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis Jr. in a statement on Tuesday, January 13.
A criminal justice organizer, Herbert, 61, is a long-time affiliate of Adams’s. He previously ran unsuccessfully for State Assembly in 2014 and Public Advocate in 2021. He moved up from the Mayor’s Community Affairs office for Brooklyn to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) liaison from 2022 to 2025. However, he was fired in September 2025 when he posted a video on social media saying that the shooting of far-right Republican Charlie Kirk was “karma.”
This marks another person who was in Adams’s orbit that has been arrested and indicted. This includes other former aides and Brooklynites like the Mayor’s former Chief Advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, and Bishop Lamor Whitehead in 2024.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Herbert allegedly “abused” his position with NYCHA by soliciting $16,000 in kickbacks, or an illegal payment for a favor. Herbert promised to sway city officials to award a security company with city contracts and approve payments to a funeral home director, said the office. An executive with the security firm reportedly recorded their conversations.
Herbert also allegedly submitted a $20,418 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) small business loan application for a fake baked goods company in 2021.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Herbert told CBS New York after court. He maintained that he has longstanding relationships with community members involved with the case and was well within his purview.
Herbert was arrested on Jan. 13 and presented to a judge, where he pleaded not guilty.
“As charged, he allegedly filed false financial disclosures with the city, omitting the payments he received to conceal his criminal conduct,” added Department of Investigation (DOI) Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber. “I thank the IRS and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their partnership on this investigation and for their commitment to hold accountable City employees who abuse their position for their own gain.”
“New Yorkers deserve honest and competent public officials,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As alleged, at a time when Anthony Herbert was serving as City Hall’s liaison to the City’s public housing residents, he engaged in blatant pay-to-play schemes to enrich himself. The women and men of the Southern District of New York are committed to holding accountable government officials who abuse their positions of trust to benefit themselves.”
Herbert’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 30.