Police arrested Vadim Dergachev, 42, again on Dec. 4 after he returned to the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office three times. He was previously arrested (Nov. 18, 2024) for allegedly making terrorist threats, specifically to State Sen. Cordell Cleare’s staff. Dergachev now faces additional charges including for a hate crime over allegedly violating the court order of protection.
“When I heard about what was happening here, because I was away, I thought about my staff. If anything happened to my staff, how I would feel,” said Cleare at a press conference in the lobby of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building on Friday, Dec. 6. “My staff works for a person who believes in an open door policy because my community deserves to be able to have access to my office and to me. It’s what they expect from me and we deliver that every single day that we’re here.”
Cleare said of Dergachev’s behavior that “it’s actions like this that make us have to curb the work that we do, the services we deliver to our people, and that’s not fair, so we have to make sure that we’re safe enough to do the work that we’re supposed to do.”
Cleare said that Dergachev violated an order of protection several times by coming back to the building and is currently being held on bail. He claimed to be a Russian diplomat on Nov. 18, threatening to bomb the building, and said that he had the power to inflict harm on the staff. He was arrested and later released. He returned three times on Dec. 4. The continued threats raised questions about the need for more adequate security in the state office building.
Alongside Cleare at the press conference were dozens of community members in support of the senator: Harlem elected officials Assemblymember Al Taylor, Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, Senator Robert Jackson, and representatives from the offices of Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, Congressmember Adriano Espaillat, and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
“The most important issue is the safety and security of the people that we represent. All of you — and not only all of you, but all of the staff that work in the office building here,” said Senator Robert Jackson. “In fact, they feel, based on the threats that have been made, that not enough is being done and we want action, not five weeks from now or when someone gets shot or killed. We want action. When do we want action? Now. Nothing has happened as of yet, but the threats are so crazy that you have to take it seriously.”
Electeds collectively railed against the building manager — the state Office of General Services (OGS) — for lack of action.
“November 18th, my sister was threatened [with] violence,” said Gibbs. “I’m a bit upset with the commissioner of OGS because she [has] the audacity not to meet with us yet. But I believe that if the state building was located two miles south of here and a man walked in and threatened a young lady, [of] differently color than our senator, they would shut the building down, they would change the security operations.”
The electeds also demanded more security be added to all state buildings, especially for Black elected officials.
“I’m not that guy that sits here and says, ‘Hey, let NYPD, let OGS handle it,’” Gibbs continued. “I wasn’t raised that way and I believe that a lot of other brothers in this community feel the same way I do. We try to respectfully wait on OGS and NYPD to respond, but best believe, by all means, damn this label, damn the title. We’re protecting our sister whether the NYPD or OGS cooperate. But why do we have to go that route? Let’s do it the right way.”
Cleare said she feels that these kinds of incidents will increase once Donald Trump is sworn in as president in January 2025. “If this is how people are acting beforehand, and this has nothing to do with who you supported; it’s just about what he represents to those people, I have every reason to believe it will get worse,” said Cleare at the conference.
Councilmember Yusef Salaam added, in a statement, that he stands in full solidarity with Cleare and her staff as they face “unacceptable threats.”
The OGS said that it “is aware of the recent incident” that occurred in the state office building and that they have met with Cleare and her staff to address any questions and concerns. “We understand that this incident caused concern, and we want to assure the public and building occupants that their safety is our highest priority. OGS continues to take all the necessary precautions to prioritize the safety and well-being of those who occupy our state buildings,” said an OGS spokesperson.
OGS said that it regularly reviews its safety protocols, and that all state office buildings undergo a continuous cycle of upgrades and improvements. The Harlem building upgrades have been ongoing since 2022, said the spokesperson. In addition, OGS is working with subject matter experts from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to further review security at Harlem’s state office building.