His cabinet members are resigning, party colleagues are deserting him, and Governor Kathy Hochul is openly considering her options on whether to remove New York Mayor Eric Adams from office.
“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,” Hochul wrote in a statement on Monday. “That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.”
Hochul spoke up after the federal Justice Department dropped its corruption case against Adams, following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, followed by Adams agreeing to allow immigration enforcement officers at the city jail on Rikers Island. The change of policy defies the city’s “sanctuary” policy that was signed into law in 2014 by previous mayor Bill de Blasio. In an interview on CNN, border czar Tom Homan said that his conversation with Adams took place before the charges were dropped, denying a quid pro quo.
Homan’s denial did little to reassure confidence in Adams. Last week, prosecutor Danielle Sasson resigned in protest of the case being dropped, followed by half of his deputy mayors, First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Health Human Services Anne Williams-Isom, and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chauncey Parker.
Among state officials calling for his resignation are Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie did not push for resignation but felt that Adams is now beholden to Trump rather than leading in his own right.
“It’s never been in my history to suggest people should resign, but this situation is very serious,” Heastie said in an interview with Politico. “I don’t like the idea that the City could possibly be held hostage, according to what we read, so it’s a serious situation.”
The avalanche of bad publicity for Adams was exacerbated on Sunday when he spoke at Rehoboth Cathedral in Brooklyn, among the Black churches whose pastors remain supportive of the mayor. Outside the church, protesters jeered as he walked in. Then he spoke. “That is what you’re seeing right there, right now – a modern-day Mein Kampf,” he said. “If you tell a lie long enough, loud enough, people will tend to believe you,” referring to allegations of quid pro quo with Trump.
Adams’ primary opponents rushed to condemn him for the Nazi reference. “To invoke Hitler here is a shande,” Comptroller Brad Lander wrote. “As the highest ranking Jewish elected official in New York City government, I condemn the mayor’s language in the strongest terms.”
Scott Stringer called Adams’ remarks “nonsensical, unacceptable, and offensive.” The Democratic primary on June 24 also includes State Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos; Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani; former assemblyman Michael Blake; and former federal prosecutor Jim Walden.
Put into context, Adams’ remarks were followed by his description of the migrant crisis impacting the city. “I went to Washington ten times to say that it is inhumane to put migrants and asylum seekers in this condition.” He noted that he also slept in a shelter with migrants, visited the Darien Gap on the Panama-Colombia border, and the Mexican border at El Paso, to bring attention to the crisis.
Although there are many Democrats who sneer at Adams’ cooperation with Trump on identifying and deporting illegal immigrants facing criminal charges, they may not be entirely representative of the party. When the Laken Riley Act was passed, 46 House Democrats voted in favor, including Ritchie Torres, Tom Suozzi, and Laura Gillen. In the Senate, ten Democrats voted in favor, most of them representing border and presidential swing states.
Orthodox Jewish voters are fond of Adams, who has been outspoken in support of Israel, combating anti-Semitism, and supporting Jewish schools during his term, and in his earlier roles as Brooklyn Borough President and State Senator. His prior career as a transit cop [NYPD Captain] also earned him votes from commuters tired of seeing homeless people, career criminals, and illegal vendors on the subway. Although his ability to keep criminals behind bars is hamstrung by state laws concerning bail and lenient judges, his focus on crime certainly exceeds his primary opponents who stand alongside organizations favoring the continuation of “sanctuary city.”
Should Adams face termination ahead of the June primary, his political career can have a second life as an Independent or as a Republican. There is no precedent for a governor or other city officials to remove the mayor, although the law allows for these possibilities.
If he were to run as a Republican or as an Independent, Adams would poll better than Curtis Sliwa, who ran on the Republican ticket four years ago; and as an Independent, he could attract conservative Democrats who are uncomfortable voting for the party of Trump.
Should Adams lose the support of his party by forced resignation or in the primary, he can look to an iconic predecessor for guidance. Like many New York City candidates, Fiorello LaGuardia ran in 1933 on several party lines, mainly as a Republican but better known on the Fusion Party, which consisted of anti-Tammany Democrats, Independents, and smaller parties. He ran with the support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won his office in the previous year.
Among the three Black candidates in the primary, Adams has the most name recognition and support. In last year’s presidential election, many Latino voters defied predictions by voting in favor of tougher immigration enforcement. The election also boosted Trump’s share of the vote among city residents, in comparison to the past two presidential elections. Adding the Jewish vote to this formula, in defiance of social media predictions, Adams’ future in City Hall remains in the realm of reality.
By Sergey Kadinsky
