For two and a half years, the NBC New York I-Team has been asking City Hall for controversial audio files that depict Eric Adams communicating in foreign languages. Back in 2023, the former mayor used AI voice cloning software to produce robocalls targeting New York City enclaves where English is less common.
At the time, Adams was criticized for not disclosing, within the robocalls, that the voice heard by his constituents had been altered by AI. After questions from reporters, the former mayor did release one Spanish-language robocall, but the others remained under wraps – month after month. Until now.
Under the Mamdani administration, the audio files, once withheld, were made public this week. After initially delaying the release in March, Mamdani handed them over this month.
One of the newly released recordings depicts Adams speaking Haitian Creole. Another audio file is an attempt to make Adams sound like he’s speaking Yiddish. Several of the recordings are Spanish versions of the former mayor’s voice speaking at different cadences.
It’s never been clear why Mayor Adams declined to release all the audio files.
“This is the type of information that the journalists, the public should be able to get quickly,” said Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor at the good government watchdog, Reinvent Albany.
A spokesperson for Adams did not respond to the I-Team’s questions about why the former mayor withheld the files during his time in office. However, in a series of automated “extension” notices, delivered during the two years after the I-Team requested the records, City Hall blamed “the volume of [records] requests” for a delay in producing the recordings.
Last year, Fauss authored a report documenting New York City’s failure to produce more than 50 thousands of government records sought by members of the public over the prior six years. She found the Mayor’s Office, under Adams, was among the slowest to close requests for public records, taking an average of 283 days to fully respond to citizen’s requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.
Prior to taking over City Hall, in both his campaign and transition, Mamdani pledged a “new era” of transparency in government. After the I-Team requested Mamdani make public the audio files of his predecessor’s AI-altered voice, Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for the new mayor, said he was committed to following through on his transparency pledge.
“Mayor Mamdani has been clear,” Lyle wrote, “transparency and accountability are prerequisites to a city government that truly delivers for New Yorkers.”
Fauss applauded Mayor Mamdani’s decision to release the AI audio files to the I-Team.
“I think it is a good sign that this request was responded to quickly after you elevated it,” she said. “Hopefully that’s going to translate to all the requests that are in the backlog from the Adams Administration. There are a number of people – thousands – waiting for records.”