Top NYC lawyer Lisa Zornberg pushed for Adams to fire close aides eyed by the feds before her sudden resignation: sources

The sudden resignation of Mayor Eric Adams top lawyer came after she recommended that three embattled City Hall aides under intense scrutiny by the feds needed to go, sources said Monday.Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg reached her last straw with Hizzoner when he balked at pushing out the trio: Phil Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety; Tim Pearson, a powerful Adams advisor in charge of migrant contracting; and Winnie Greco, the city’s director of Asian Affairs.An exhausted Zornberg had been eyeing an exit from the chaotic and increasingly troubled administration — and opted then to resign in a decision made public late Saturday, according to political sources.“I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position,” Zornberg wrote in a resignation letter.No damning new evidence emerged over the weekend to prompt her shocking departure, a source said.Insiders with knowledge of Zornberg’s departure cast a portrait of a mayor unwilling to cut loose potentially problematic aides, even after the feds dramatically raided their homes.Zornberg, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York — the office leading a number of probes surrounding the Adams administration — recommended that Banks follow in former NYPD commish Edward Caban’s footsteps and resign, sources said.Caban, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, stepped down last week under pressure from City Hall after federal agents seized his electronic devices, along with those belonging to Pearson, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Banks and Banks’ brothers Terence Banks and Schools Chancellor David Banks.Zornberg also argued she couldn’t ethically represent Pearson and Greco after finding the pair had separately lied on financial disclosure forms, according to sources.Greco had not disclosed her sources of income previously, and even put down an incorrect address, sources said.Her home was raided by the feds ...