Under-fire New York City mayor Eric Adams moved his bodybuilder ex-girlfriend into a New Jersey apartment, just one floor below his current love, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The hard-partying mayor, now facing a federal charge of fraud and bribery that carries a possible sentence of up to 45 years, told Sylvia Cowan that she would get more bang for her buck across the Hudson River than on the platform where he allegedly gave her away in Brooklyn in 2014.
And Cowan, who competed for major bodybuilding titles from 1998 to 2010, took his advice and moved to Fort Lee in 2018.
She now lives just one floor below Adams’ current partner, Tracey Collins, which could make for some awkward moments in the 32-story luxury building’s doorman-controlled lobby, or the pool, sauna, gym or movie theater it boasts. the building.
Eric Adams is known for his luxurious lifestyle, which he shares with love interest Tracey Collins in an apartment one floor above his ex Sylvia Cowan. The couple attended the Met Gala in 2022
Sylvia Cowan in her bodybuilding days
The stunning view of the Hudson River towards Manhattan that residents of The Colony at Fort Lee can enjoy
A source told DailyMail.com: ‘Eric has always had unique relationships with his exes, but moving Sylvia downstairs definitely raises eyebrows.
“Everyone keeps to themselves inside the building, but Eric remains close friends with Sylvia.”
Even before his indictment in September, Adams, 64, had come under fire for apparently living in New Jersey while he was the Big Apple’s top elected official.
He described his situation as “a whole new way of life” during a 2023 interview, but declined to talk about the details of his love life.
He said he stayed at properties he owned in the city, but admitted he often stayed overnight at his girlfriend’s 22nd-floor two-bedroom condo.
There you can get “incredible panoramic views of New York from the George Washington Bridge to midtown Manhattan from your enormous terrace,” according to the real estate agents who sold it to you.
DailyMail.com spotted Sylvia Cowan walking with a friend outside the Fort Lee apartment building where she now lives.
Adams owns a condo on the 22nd floor in this Fort Lee building with Tracey Collins. His ex Sylvia Cowan lives on the 21st floor.
Former bodybuilder Sylvia Cowan lives in this apartment on the 21st floor of The Colony
But it has now emerged that Cowan, 67, lives in the same building, on the 21st floor.
He bought his one-bedroom apartment, which also features “east-facing river and New York City views from every room,” for $230,000 in March 2018, public records show.
Adams was quick to deny living full-time in New Jersey despite co-owning the property.
But City Hall documents show he spends time at the complex regularly to visit his girlfriend, while maintaining a strong bond with his ex.
Adams and Cowan dated for years and bought a one-bedroom apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 1988.
Although they still remain close today, their romance fell apart around 2007 when he allegedly transferred his ownership interest to her.
But that apartment has also become a problem for Adams.
During his 2021 mayoral campaign, he did not include it on the disclosure forms the state and city require of elected officials. At that time he stated that it was the right thing to do because he no longer had any interest in it.
But last year it emerged that Adams still owns the apartment. He then blamed his former accountant for the error in the forms.
He also owns a multifamily rental property in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Today, Cowan pockets around $180,000 a year as vice president of growth and community initiatives at Amida, a New York-based health insurance company.
Social media accounts indicate that Cowan lives in Brooklyn, with records showing that she and Adams still own their Crown Heights apartment, but she has been seen coming and going from their Fort Lee apartment since she bought it in 2017. .
Adams hosted a Fashion Week reception with Collins that was attended by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Eric Adams invited reporters to tour the basement of his Brooklyn home in an attempt to prove that he actually lived in the city and not New Jersey during the 2021 mayoral race.
The Adams house is seen on Lafayette Street in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. He said he lives in the basement and rents the other two floors to finance his son’s college education.
Adams hosted a news conference with his son, Jordan, 25, to insist that he really lived at the Brooklyn property.
Cowan remortgaged the property twice according to Bergen County documents, once in 2019 and again in early 2024.
Neither Adams nor Cowan responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
Cowan isn’t the only close friend Adams has kept within her tight circle as she rose through the ranks.
His office previously admitted that he rented a room to NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Labor Relations Lisa White between 2013 and 2017.
A longtime friend of Adams, White was assigned her role shortly after he took office, with a salary of more than $241,000 a year.
The mayor’s office has denied helping his friend with her promotions, but confirmed that the connection with White extended beyond a mere professional relationship.
The City Council previously characterized it as a friendship that went back decades and involved sharing management for years.
In 2013, when Adams ran for Brooklyn borough president, he changed his voter registration to declare his residence as the same McKeever Place apartment where White was also registered.
City Board of Elections records show Adams maintained he lived in the McKeever Place unit between June 2013 and March 2017.
His attempts to keep his personal life secret have always attracted attention, and Collins has been accused of accompanying Adams on lavish $45,000 trips, according to the federal indictment unsealed against the mayor.
Collins, 61, a former school teacher, principal and administrator who was promoted after Adams took office, is referred to as Adams’ “domestic partner” in the 57-page court document.
Legal documents filed by a former Department of Education employee claim that Collins had not been seen in person since Thanksgiving 2023 and that her work calendar remained empty.
Adams is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery of federal programs and receiving campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
He is also accused of defrauding city taxpayers of $10 million through allegedly fraudulent campaign funds.
The mayor pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week and said he had done nothing wrong.
He was arraigned in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday as the first New York City mayor to be charged while in office.