Who is Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the former Mayor Adams aide who was just indicted?

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the newly indicted former chief adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, has been a fixture in city and state politics for decades. The outspoken conservative Democrat is best known for helping Adams carve a path to City Hall.

Now, she’s been criminally charged with bribery and money laundering. On Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unsealed an indictment accusing her of expediting building approvals for two businessmen who, in return, lent her and her son $100,000 to buy a Porsche. A grand jury indicted Lewis-Martin alongside the two men and her son, Glenn Martin II.

Lewis-Martin, who resigned from her City Hall job on Sunday, is the highest-profile member of the Adams administration to be indicted aside from the mayor himself. Prior to the charges, she denied any wrongdoing.

​​“I’ve worked in government for over 35 years,” she said during a press conference on Monday. “I have never taken any gifts, money, anything.”

During her time at City Hall, she was known for having an unrivaled bond with Adams.

“She was a sounding board for him throughout his career,” said George Arzt, a consultant who is well-known in New York City political circles. “They’ve had their disputes like any couple, but they always came back together.”

Lewis-Martin helped shape the Adams administration, including by making appointments to the mayor’s team. She selected former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, for example, who was later forced to step down after being implicated in a federal investigation.

As Adams’ political right hand, Lewis-Martin asserted herself in negotiations around the city and state budget. Earlier this year, she helped make a face-saving deal for the mayor that extended his control of the city school system.

But some of her attempts to shape policy decisions have been controversial. An unapologetic car driver who opposed congestion pricing, she drew the ire of transit advocates after she tried to cancel pedestrian- and bike-oriented transit projects in Brooklyn.

As the city navigated the migrant crisis, immigration advocates criticized her for saying in a television interview that the federal government needed to “close the borders.”

Her closeness with the mayor led some at City Hall to view her as a proxy of her boss — and believe that her word was as good as his.

Adams and Lewis-Martin have been close for decades. Her husband, Glenn Martin, served with the mayor in the NYPD, and she’s spent years working for his political campaigns and offices.

“Everybody knew Eric's blind loyalty would be his undoing. We all warned him don't bring Ingrid with you to City Hall,” said an official from Brooklyn who has worked at City Hall throughout the Adams administration and requested anonymity out of fear of retribution. “Instead he gave her the biggest corner office and free reign to stick her fingers in every pie."

Lewis-Martin worked on Adams’ 2021 campaign with her goddaughter Brianna Suggs, the young fundraiser whose home the FBI raided last year, bringing the campaign’s troubles to light.

And, according to an indictment Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unsealed on Thursday, Lewis-Martin will go to extraordinary lengths for her son.

Before the indictment was unsealed, Lewis-Martin maintained that she did not know what allegations would be detailed within it. That didn’t stop her from vying for control of the narrative. Days before Bragg brought charges, Lewis-Martin “cordially invited” a group of reporters to a tightly packed press conference at her lawyer’s office in Midtown. Wearing a green velvet suit and a bold red lip, she previewed her looming prosecution.

Lewis-Martin's attorney Arthur Aidala said at the time that he didn’t know what she would be charged with, but that she had not committed any crimes — despite temptation.

“There were so many opportunities, if somebody wanted to do something criminal, to do so, and Ingrid never did that, never thought about doing that,” Aidala said.

At issue in her indictment is an allegation that she used her role in city government for the financial benefit of her son, Glenn Martin II, a professional DJ who goes by the name Suave Luciano. He performs at bars and clubs throughout the city, including a regular gig on Sundays at Williamsburg cocktail lounge Mamataco.

He’s posted Instagram photos performing at a number of Adams-affiliated, city-sponsored events, including at Gracie Mansion and the Rise Up NYC Concert Series. In August, Adams made an appearance at Martin II's birthday celebration.

“Thank you Uncle @nycmayor for taking the time out to briefly stop in and wish me a Happy Birthday while in route to your meeting,” Martin II wrote on Instagram, where he posted videos of the mayor embracing him and posing for photos with guests. In July 2022, Martin II posted a photo and video of himself and Adams preparing to go jet skiing.

While the Manhattan DA’s charges against Lewis-Martin are separate from the federal case against Adams, Lewis-Martin’s daily calendar shows her meeting with individuals at the heart of the mayor’s case. On July 11, 2022, Lewis-Martin was scheduled to meet for dinner with the Turkish consul general at the Turkish House on East 46th Street, according to her schedule, which Gothamist obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Federal prosecutors accuse Adams of helping to expedite safety approvals at the building despite concerns from fire officials after receiving campaign contributions and luxury travel perks from the consul general and businesspeople tied to the Turkish government.

The mayor and Lewis-Martin have both maintained their innocence.

Jon Campbell contributed reporting.