City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Thursday said city officials are currently “not looking” at forming a panel that could boot Mayor Eric Adams from office in the aftermath of his indictment on federal corruption charges.
During an unrelated Thursday news conference, the speaker she and other city officials are not considering convening what is known in the City Charter as an “Inability Committee” because they do not believe it applies to the current mayor.
Speaker Adams said the committee was originally conceived to remove a mayor who was physically unfit for the job after former Mayor Ed Koch had a stroke in 1987, and that is not the case with Mayor Adams.
“I think that it’s important to note the historical perspective of an Inability Committee,” the speaker said. “The word inability, I believe, was chosen because of that very fact, of the mayor being unable, physically unable, to fulfill his role. That is not what we have in this instance. So, at the time, we are not looking at enacting an Inability Committee, primarily because of the historical perspective of why it was created.”
The committee would include the speaker, the city Comptroller, the corporation counsel, a deputy mayor—to be chosen by the mayor—and the longest-serving of the five borough presidents.
However, there is currently only an interim corporation counsel—Muriel Goode-Trufant—and no permanent one. The post has not yet been filled since its last occupant, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, resigned in June.
Once established, the committee must then vote — by a four out of five majority — to form a panel consisting of the 51-member City Council. The city legislature would then hold its own vote on whether the mayor is temporarily or permanently unable to discharge their duties.
The mayor could only be removed from office by a two-thirds council vote.
The speaker’s comments come as Gov. Kathy Hochul, who also has the power to remove Adams from office under a different mechanism, has been pushing the mayor to enact a slew of staffing changes to the upper ranks of his administration. The mayor appears to be taking her advice, with several of his aides, who are currently under federal investigation, resigning their positions in recent weeks.
Among those who have resigned are former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, former First Deputy Mayor Sheens Wright, her husband, outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks, and his brother, former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks.
Speaker Adams appeared to suggest that the council would defer to Hochul regarding handling the embattled Adams administration.
“We see the relationship between the governor and the mayor working.” the speaker said. “So for now, we are going to continue to look for her guidance and her work with the mayor to keep stability on the other side of City Hall,”
