The political storm that’s been swirling around New York City Mayor Eric Adams gained a new focus this week: Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat who has the power to remove the embattled mayor.
I spent most of Tuesday standing outside Hochul’s office in Midtown Manhattan, watching a parade of prominent politicos who came to share their thoughts about how Hochul should proceed. You can read about it in Gothamist, or tune in to WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show at 10 a.m. to hear me talk about what’s going on alongside my colleague Brigid Bergin.
Hochul has given Adams plenty of space since he was indicted on federal corruption charges last fall. But she demanded that he clean house in City Hall, and subsequently said she was pleased with the empowerment and appointment of aides like Maria Torres-Springer and Meera Joshi within his administration. Adams pleaded not guilty and said he would be vindicated at trial, and the world waited.
As you’ve probably read, Adams spent the months warming up to Donald Trump. He’s declined to criticize the Republican president and signaled he will cooperate with immigration crackdowns that have prompted widespread angst across the five boroughs. Trump says he sees shades of his own prosecution in Adams’s case, and last week the U.S. Department of Justice directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the charges against the mayor.
Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned, and said in appointed letter to Washington that she believed the whole thing was a “bargain” for Adams’s cooperation with the administration. (Adams and his attorneys deny this.)
Calls for the mayor to leave office moved from the progressive flank of the Democratic Party to some of its most prominent members, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado. (Delgado’s call, ahead of Hochul’s is an interesting political subplot that I wrote about here.)
Perhaps more damningly, the women who Hochul was happy to see running New York all said Monday that they’re done with Adams. The governor said she had “serious questions about the long-term future of this mayoral administration” if the officials “feel unable to serve in City Hall at this time.”
Which led me to that cold sidewalk on Third Avenue. One of the most important voices Hochul solicited was the Rev. Al Sharpton, a singular Black political leader in the city. Sharpton told reporters that he was wary of a governor removing a mayor – something that hasn’t ever happened in the city – but that he felt Adams had become a distraction.
“My feeling is that the faith of the city’s people have been shaken and there needs to be a resolve,” Sharpton said. “But at the same time, we must protect the law and not establish a precedent that could come back to harm us.”
Rep. Greg Meeks, a Democrat from Queens, told the New York Times that he communicated to Hochul that Adams shouldn’t be removed until a hearing scheduled for this afternoon before U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho.
“I think she agreed that she cannot just wave a magic wand or say that the mayor is gone, is going to be removed,” Meeks told the Times after his call with Hochul.
“The mayor and everyone else has due process,” he said. “For me, that’s essential.”
ELECTION LAW UPDATE: My last newsletter said state lawmakers were poised to change the rules for scheduling special elections, motivated by an expected vacancy in Elise Stefanik’s district.
They didn’t. Hochul’s team at the last minute urged state legislators to pump the brakes on the proposal, according to people familiar with the matter, hoping a delay would allow Hochul to use the measure as leverage in negotiations with the Trump administration over congestion pricing and infrastructure.
SO … IS CONGESTION PRICING DEAD YET? Still alive!
THE QUESTION: Which governor came closest to removing a New York City mayor from office?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: The Yankees pitchers and catchers reported for spring training on February 11. Baseball is nigh.