Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams known as on Mayor Adams to resign Monday, turning into the most recent top-ranking metropolis official to demand he step down as a push for his forcible elimination additionally started taking form.
The speaker, who stopped in need of demanding the mayor’s resignation after he was indicted on corruption costs in September, mentioned in a press release the final drop for her was Monday afternoon’s stunning resignations of 4 of Adams’ deputy mayors over considerations that he’s beholden to President Trump as a substitute of metropolis residents.
“With the resignation of deputy mayors, it has become clear that Mayor Adams has now lost the confidence and trust of his own staff, his colleagues in government, and New Yorkers. He now must prioritize New York City and New Yorkers, step aside and resign,” mentioned the speaker, marking a exceptional flip from her endorsement of the mayor’s 2021 marketing campaign.
“This administration no longer has the ability to effectively govern with Eric Adams as mayor,” she continued. “These resignations are the culmination of the mayor’s actions and decisions that have led to months of instability and now compromise the City’s sovereignty, threaten chaos, and risk harm to our families.”
Shortly earlier than the speaker’s missive, Comptroller Brad Lander despatched a letter to the mayor demanding that by Friday he current “a detailed contingency plan” for a way his administration will function with out his 4 resigned deputies, together with his second-in-command Maria Torres-Springer.
If he doesn’t present such a plan, Lander mentioned he’ll “seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee,” a municipal panel that can be utilized to forcibly take away the mayor.
An Incapability Committee, which underneath the Metropolis Constitution can take away a mayor deemed “unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office,” should contain the comptroller, the Council speaker, a deputy mayor, the company counsel and a borough president.
“The resignation of four or more deputy mayors, and the chaos created by the Justice Department’s actions regarding indictments against you, may well constitute inability to govern,” Lander, who’s working in opposition to Adams in June’s Democratic mayoral major, mentioned in a press release.
Apart from the Incapability Committee, the governor has authority to take away a mayor. Gov. Hochul is dealing with rising calls to make use of that energy, although she has but to say whether or not she’d be ready to take such a step.
Earlier than submitting their resignations, Torres-Springer and three of her fellow deputies informed the mayor they’re involved about his capability to guide town after President Trump’s Division of Justice filed a movement to dismiss his case late Friday with political issues in thoughts, in line with sources acquainted with the conversations.
The movement, which the DOJ filed after a number of Manhattan federal prosecutors refused to do it and resigned as a substitute, asks a choose to drop the case instantly, however enable the division to resurrect it as early as November. Within the interim, the DOJ wrote it expects Adams to assist Trump’s effort to deport undocumented immigrants, an uncommon caveat in a court docket continuing that each critics and allies of the mayor say makes him a “hostage” to the president’s agenda.
“There is too much at stake for our city and New Yorkers to allow this to continue,” the speaker mentioned in her assertion. “We have endured enough scandal, selfishness and embarrassment, all of which distract from the leadership that New Yorkers deserve. This is the opposite of public service. Our city needs a leader totally committed to protecting New Yorkers and improving their lives.”
Initially Printed: February 17, 2025 at 7:11 PM EST
