Political Pressure Mounts on Mayor Adams
ALBANY, New York — Mayor Eric Adams didn’t attend the annual caucus weekend in Albany, but his political fate took center stage as Democrats dialed up the pressure on him to step down. And his foes are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to consider removing him if he won’t bow out on his own.
Two top Democrats — state Sen. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado — have called for Adams’ resignation.
“I just really feel there’s a lot of work that we need to get done and it may be time for him to step aside and deal with the things he’s facing,” Stewart-Cousins told POLITICO. Her posture was first reported by the New York Post, which noted the Senate leader suggested Hochul consider removing her fellow Democrat if he doesn’t step aside.
It’s meaningful — if not entirely surprising, given her cool relationship with Adams — as she is a high-ranking Black Democrat like the mayor.
Delgado made his own call for Adams’ ouster Thursday, in a statement that touched off a sideshow battle between him and Hochul. The governor’s aide insisted her lieutenant does not speak for her.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, also no fan of Adams, didn’t call on him to resign but criticized him nonetheless.
“It’s never been in my history to suggest people should resign but this situation is very serious,” the Democratic conference leader said. “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.”
Heastie was referring to news this week that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department ordered the corruption charges against the mayor dropped, reportedly in a deal demanding the mayor’s cooperation on the president’s deportation agenda.
Even the mayor’s allies in Albany recognize the gravity of the situation.
“I’m not calling for the mayor to step down, but, you know, certainly I’m concerned, and we’ll be monitoring how things move going forward,” said Brooklyn state. Sen. Kevin Parker.
On Monday, Parker told POLITICO he was happy the charges were being dropped.
“The circumstances changed,” Parker said, acknowledging the potential impact of ICE raids on his district, where thousands of Caribbean immigrants reside.
Democratic Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs — a stalwart supporter and friend of the mayor — said he’s been waiting to hear directly from Adams on his next move.
“I want to give him that opportunity as a good friend,” Gibbs said. “But things are happening, so he needs to say something soon, because we all left in limbo. We love him, but we don’t know what to say or do because we don’t know what he’s saying or doing.”
“When you got good friends who are behind you, you should give them a heads up,” he added. “A heads up on what he’s planning on doing in terms of the mayoral race, his seat, dealing with President Trump. He has to be transparent to the people who support him. We need to know. If not, then we start going other places.”
Adams’ political future was a leading topic of discussion at the annual political and legislation conference in Albany, where more than 8,500 political players gathered for the event. The Democratic mayoral primary — which includes three state lawmakers — is scheduled for June 24. If he loses, Adams will be the city’s second Black mayor to only serve one term.
The prosecutor on his case, Danielle Sassoon, issued a scathing resignation letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, asserting Trump’s appointees were meddling in the case in exchange for Adams’ cooperation with helping Trump deport undocumented migrants.
“Rather than be rewarded, Adams’ advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case,” Sassoon wrote.
She also made clear she had been preparing a superseding indictment for alleged obstruction “based on evidence that Adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the FBI and that would add further factual allegations regarding his participation in a fraudulent straw donor scheme.”
Adams had maintained his innocence following his September indictment, which was to culminate in an April trial, and his attorney Alex Spiro issued a statement Thursday calling Sassoon’s accusation of a quid pro quo “a total lie.”
“We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” Spiro said, while noting the case did have bearing on national security and immigration enforcement. He also called Sassoon’s claim of a pending obstruction charge “false.”
In accepting Sassoon’s resignation, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove called Sassoon’s assertion of a quid pro quo in exchange for Adams’ cooperation in deporting migrants “false.”
Yet Adams appeared on Fox & Friends with Trump border czar Tom Homan Friday and simply laughed as Homan threatened to take stronger action if he doesn’t get the participation he expects from the mayor.
“If he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City, and we won’t be sitting on the couch,” Homan said of Adams’ pledge to help with immigration enforcement. “I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying where the hell is the agreement we came to?”
The situation has led to a flurry of resignations in the Justice Department, and has bolstered a narrative among Democrats that the Democratic mayor is compromised, particularly since Trump could revisit charges against him.
Hours before the charges were dropped, and about one week after Adams’ lawyer met with DOJ officials in Washington, the mayor was instructing his top commissioners not to interfere with Trump’s immigration officials and to avoid criticizing the president, local news outlet THE CITY reported.
Under state law and the City Charter, the governor can remove the mayor and other local leaders at her will.
Hochul’s monthslong resistance to removing the mayor has loosened in the span of days.
“This just happened; I need some time to process this and figure out the right approach,” she said on MSNBC, leaving the door ajar to action. Four days earlier, she’d called mayoral removal akin to “overturning an election” and said it “does not feel like something that’s very democratic.”
While Adams was absent from the 54th Annual Legislative Caucus Weekend hosted by the NYS Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators, his deputy mayors attended.
“The mayor has been clear, he’s not stepping down, he’s stepping up,” Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement. “As he said yesterday, we must put this difficult episode behind us so that trust can be restored, New York can move forward, and we can continue delivering for the people of this city.”
