Gov. Kathy Hochul met with a litany of New York City officials on Tuesday to consider removing Mayor Eric Adams from office as concerns over President Trump’s Justice Department’s decision to drop his corruption case — and whether that may have compromised the mayor — reached a fever pitch.
The governor, who has the power to remove the mayor under the City Charter, scheduled the series of closed-door meetings after four of Adams’ deputy mayors submitted their resignations Monday amid the fallout over the pending dismissal of the mayor’s indictment. Many of the local leaders Hochul met with on Feb. 18 would sit on a Committee on Mayoral Inability — a five-member panel that could be convened under the City Charter to also consider ousting Adams.
In a Feb. 10 memo, the DOJ asked for Adams’ charges to be dropped, not primarily because of the case’s merits but rather so he could focus on working with the Trump administration on its immigration crackdown. Former acting Manhattan US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, in a scathing letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi last week, alleged that Adams’ attorney explicitly traded his cooperation with Trump’s deportation agenda for dismissing the charges against him. Sassoon and seven other federal prosecutors resigned last week over the DOJ’s decision.
Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, fiercely denies the allegation — yet the development triggered a flood of fresh calls for Adams to resign or be forced out of office.
Monday night, Hochul said she would not take the potential for deposing an elected official “lightly.” Many of the key leaders she met with Tuesday seemed to agree.
Hochul spokesperson Avi Small did not immediately respond when asked if she would provide a statement on her meetings.
Rev. Al Sharpton, after his meeting with Hochul, said Tuesday afternoon that the governor intended to wait for the federal judge in Adams’ case to hear the DOJ’s argument for dismissing the charges and render a decision, before making her own.
“The governor said to me that she is going to see what the judge decides tomorrow and keep deliberating with other leaders,” Sharpton told reporters outside of Hochul’s Midtown office. “It wouldn’t make sense for her to remove him [if] he isn’t indicted.”
The federal judge in Adams’ case, Dale Ho, will hold a Wednesday afternoon hearing on the matter, but it is unclear when he will make a decision.
Adams, who has fiercely resisted calls to step down, has not taken questions from the press in over a week. He shouted, “You’re all liars,” when reporters tried to ask him questions before an event at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital on Tuesday.
Inability, or not
The other leaders who met with Hochul included City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, city Comptroller Brad Lander, and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards — all of whom would sit on the Inability Committee, if convened.
Speaker Adams, who called on the mayor to resign on Monday, said she had a “productive meeting” with Hochul. But she told reporters Tuesday that because the mayor is in good physical health, the inability committee “does not apply to this situation.”
But Lander believes the inability committee applies more broadly — not only when a mayor is unabel to discharge their duties due to an illness.
After his meeting with the governor, Lander repeated that he wants Adams to draft a “contingency plan” to keep the city functioning after the four deputy mayors resigned on Monday. He said that if Adams does not satisfy his request by Friday, he will initiate the Inability Committee.
“If he fails or refuses to provide a clear contingency plan for how New Yorkers can rely on the services that make this city run, then, as I said, I will be reaching out to other members of the Committee on Mayoral Inability to discuss the question of whether the mayor can discharge the powers and duties of the office of the mayor,” Lander said.
Richards did not indicate in a statement whether he is in favor of removing Adams after his conversation with Hochul. Instead, he said, “I encourage Mayor Adams to give deep, honest thought as to whether his administration is capable of delivering such a government.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who was not scheduled to convene with Hochul on Tuesday, also declined to state whether Adams should be forced out of office pending Judge Ho’s decision when pressed by reporters. The Brooklyn Congress member said he would speak further with members of New York City’s Congressional delegation and, at some point after that, the governor.
“Mayor Adams has the responsibility to decisively demonstrate to the people of New York City that he has the capacity to govern in the best interests of New Yorkers, as opposed to taking orders from the Trump Administration,” Jeffries said. “In anticipation of the court hearing tomorrow, I don’t expect that any statements will be made by me.”
