Mayor Adams dodges queries on departing NYPD commissioner Sewell

Mayor Adams dodged questions about his outgoing NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell on Thursday, saying that the “book is closed” on the law enforcement leader he’s taken great pains to praise over the last few days.

Sewell was noticeably absent Thursday morning during a City Hall press briefing where Adams announced tentative contract agreements with 11 uniformed labor unions, including several that represent management-level cops.

The commissioner was expected to be at the event, according to a City Hall source who spoke to the Daily News beforehand.

But during the briefing — after it became clear Sewell wouldn’t be there — the mayor told reporters she “has a lot to do” in her final two weeks on the job and was being represented by First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban, who’s expected to assume Sewell’s role in the coming weeks.

“That book is closed. There’s no more conversations I’m having on that,” Adams said when asked if he or other city officials were quietly lobbying Sewell to stay.

“I’ve answered all the questions I’m going to answer,” Adams said. “I have a city to run. I was blessed to have a great commissioner who assisted in bringing down crime, and we’re looking forward to the next chapter in the NYPD’s very rich history.”

Sources with knowledge of the situation have told The News that Sewell did not fully embrace the public-facing role of being police commissioner and felt undermined with how hands-on Adams could be when it comes to the management of the NYPD, where he retired as a captain years ago before getting into politics.

Some of that ill will appeared to come to a head earlier this year when former NYPD Chief of Training Juanita Holmes invited to Cardi B to a “Girl’s Talk” event at the NYPD academy in February — a decision sources at the time said irked Sewell, but which was later praised by Adams.

For over a year, rumors have also swirled that Sewell felt undermined by the influence of Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, a friend of Adams and the NYPD’s former chief of department who’s viewed by some as a sort of shadow police commissioner.

Adams did acknowledge that he and Sewell talked before Thursday’s press conference, but wouldn’t divulge any details.

“We had a great conversation this morning,” he said of Sewell.

When asked about what he and Sewell discussed, Adams relied on one of his go-to avoidance tactics, saying that he doesn’t “talk about private conversations.”

With Caban viewed as first in line to fill Sewell’s shoes, his record is now coming under scrutiny and is leading to more questions for the mayor.

In 2006, when Caban was a captain in the 23rd Precinct in East Harlem, he was accused of making an improper arrest and threatening a man when he allegedly said he was “getting ready with the broomstick” — an apparent reference to Abner Louima, who was sodomized at the hands of cops with a broom handle in 1997.

Adams said he wasn’t aware of the Civilian Complaint Review Board probe that followed Caban after the alleged incident, a complaint that was substantiated by the CCRB and first reported by The City. When asked about the matter, Adams called Caban an “optimum professional.”

“I’m not familiar with that case,” he said. “I know that Commissioner Caban is a professional. He served in some extremely difficult assignments in Brooklyn North during some very difficult periods of time.”

But the mayor would not say definitively if Caban would remain on as commissioner beyond the interim capacity he’s expected to function in once Sewell is out the door.

“For the next few days, we have a commissioner,” Adams said. “When it’s time to announce any new commissioner, we’ll make sure that we give you the scoop.”