Governor weighs removing New York City mayor Eric Adams

FILE – New York City mayor Eric Adams (AP Photo/Kena Betancur, File)

New York governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday she is weighing removing New York City mayor Eric Adams from office after four of his top deputies announced their resignations in the latest fallout from the Justice Department’s push to end his corruption case.

Ms Hochul, a Democrat, said she will convene a meeting of key leaders on Tuesday in Manhattan “for a conversation about the path forward”.

She said the departures of first deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and other top officials raise “serious questions about the long-term future” of Mr Adams’ administration.

Mr Adams, also a Democrat, has been under increasing scrutiny since the Justice Department’s second-in-command ordered federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week to drop his corruption case to ensure his cooperation in Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — raising questions about the mayor’s political independence and ability to lead the city.

Acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove wrote that the case had “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime”.

... the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored

“I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office,” Ms Hochul said in a statement.

“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.”

The city’s charter lays out a court-like process by which the governor must first serve the mayor with a copy of charges she feels warrant his removal, then provide him with “an opportunity to be heard in his defense”.

But there is little precedent or blueprint for how that would work. As Ms Hochul noted in her statement, the removal powers have never once been used against a sitting mayor in New York’s history.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Adams confirmed the departures of Ms Torres-Springer, deputy mayor for operations Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for health and human services Anne Williams-Isom and deputy mayor for public safety Chauncey Parker.

“I am disappointed to see them go, but given the current challenges, I understand their decision and wish them nothing but success in the future,” said Mr Adams, who faces several challengers in June’s Democratic primary.

“But let me be crystal clear: New York City will keep moving forward, just as it does every day.”

Ms Torres-Springer, Ms Joshi and Ms Williams-Isom told agency heads and staff in a memo that they were exiting because of “the extraordinary events of the last few weeks”.

They did not give a date for their departures, but Mr Adams said they and Mr Parker will remain “for the time being to ensure a seamless transition”.

Mr Bove’s directive for prosecutors to drop Mr Adams’ case touched off firestorms within the Justice Department and New York political circles, with seven federal prosecutors quitting in protest — including the interim US attorney for Manhattan — and fellow Democrats calling on Mr Adams to resign.

New York governor Kathy Hochul (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

On Friday, after a week of recriminations and resignations, Mr Bove and a pair of Justice Department officials from Washington stepped in and filed paperwork asking Manhattan federal judge Dale E Ho to dismiss the case. Judge Ho has yet to take action on the request.

Mr Adams, a former police captain, pleaded not guilty last September to charges that he accepted more than 100,000 dollars (£79,000) in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks from foreign nationals looking to buy his influence while he was Brooklyn borough president campaigning to be mayor.

The Justice Department said in its filing on Friday that it was seeking to dismiss Mr Adams’ charges with the option of refiling them later, which critics see as a carrot to ensure his compliance on the Republican president’s objectives.

In his memo ordering prosecutors to ditch the case, Mr Bove said the new, permanent US attorney would review the matter after the November election.

“It certainly sounds like President Trump is holding the mayor hostage,” reverend Al Sharpton, an ally of Mr Adams, said on Tuesday.

“I have supported the mayor, but he has been put in an unfair position — even for him — of essentially political blackmail.”

City Council speaker Adrienne Adams became the latest Democrat to call on the mayor to resign, saying that with the deputy mayor resignations it is clear he “has now lost the confidence and trust of his own staff, his colleagues in government, and New Yorkers”. Speaker Adams is not related to the mayor.

The drama over Mr Adams’ legal case played out as the mayor met with Mr Trump’s border czar in New York on Thursday and announced increased cooperation on the Trump administration’s efforts to remove immigrants, including re-establishing an office for immigration authorities at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail.