Gov. Kathy Hochul is meeting with “key leaders” of the city Tuesday to discuss a “path forward” that may lead to the ouster of embattled Mayor Eric Adams.
The news came on a day when four of Adams’ deputy mayors announced their resignation. They were apparently unable to continue working with the mayor over his cooperation with President Trump on his immigration crackdown and the ongoing fallout from the Justice Department’s move to dismiss the campaign fraud indictment against Adams.
In a statement Monday evening, Hochul said that she spoke with one of the outgoing deputy mayors, Maria Torres-Springer, but also noted that if she and the other deputy mayors “feel unable to serve in City Hall at this time, that raises serious questions about the long-term future of this mayoral administration.”
That may spell the beginning of the end of Mayor Adams’ tenure at City Hall. The City Charter grants the governor the power to remove a sitting mayor. Since Adams was indicted last September, opponents of the mayor have called upon Hochul to take such an extraordinary step — an unprecedented move in New York City history.
But while Hochul refused to take action then, things changed seriously in the last week when the Trump Justice Department moved to dismiss the case against Adams — and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon revealed that Adams’ attorneys offered a “quid pro quo” of cooperation with Trump on immigration in exchange for having the case scrapped. The mayor has denied that such a quid pro quo exists.
The Justice Department now seeks to have the case dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning that it could resurrect it at any time—a situation that many elected officials fear would coerce Adams into cooperating with Trump.
After Sassoon and several other federal prosecutors resigned in protest last Thursday, Hochul said during an MSNBC interview that she was examining her options on Adams’ future but did not want to rush to a “knee-jerk decision.” Meanwhile, the situation led more elected officials and political activists in New York City to call for Adams’ resignation or removal from office.
The governor acknowledged the gravity of the situation in her statement Monday evening — and gave a strong hint on how she may be leaning.
“I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office,” Hochul said on Feb. 17. “In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.”
Hochul said she has been a loyal partner to the city since taking office in August 2021 following then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, noting that she worked with two different mayors (Bill de Blasio and Adams) “to fight crime on the streets and subways, close illegal cannabis shops, and build more housing through ‘City of Yes.'” She added that she refuses “to go back to the days where our constituents are caught in the crossfire of political turf wars.”
“My most urgent concern is the well-being of my 8.3 million constituents who live in New York City,” the governor said.
Hochul and the city’s “key leaders” will meet at her office in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday. The governor’s office has not said who will attend the meeting.
Monday’s mass resignation of the four deputy mayors led City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to call for Mayor Adams’ resignation. City Comptroller Brad Lander also issued an ultimatum to Adams seeking a “contingency plan” by Friday to ensure smooth transitions and operation of government, or he’ll move to form an “Inability Committee” among city officials to consider Adams’ removal from office.
Even with the walls seemingly closing in, Mayor Adams has insisted he is “going nowhere,” telling congregants at churches in Queens and Brooklyn on Sunday and Monday that he will not resign.
