Governor Kathy Hochul’s plan to keep New York City Mayor Eric Adams under control despite a widely perceived conflict of interest is not gaining any fans in the state legislature, City & State reports. Rather than use the power granted to her under state law to remove Adams from office, Hochul proposed a series of “guardrails” last Thursday, including the creation of a new state inspector general office focused on the city, and allowing citywide offices (the comptroller’s office, the public advocate, and the City Council speaker) to file lawsuits against the federal government without the mayor’s approval.
Hochul’s proposals are all meant to be passed in the state legislature, but a meeting with State Assembly members from the city reportedly shows little promise in getting them passed. Sources familiar with the meeting told City & State that some lawmakers were frustrated that the governor shrank from using her power to remove Adams from office, while others reportedly saw little reason to follow Hochul’s directives on the matter.
It is also an open question whether Hochul’s plans will receive the “Home Rule Message” resolution from New York’s City Council, a necessary step for passing state laws specifically aimed at the Big Apple. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who had met with Hochul prior to her “guardrails” announcement to discuss the situation, has publicly called for Mayor Adams (no relation) to resign.
While the controversy surrounding Mayor Adams has been ongoing since he was indicted on federal corruption charges last September, it reached new levels when Trump’s Department of Justice dropped the case against him two weeks ago. The course reversal regarding Adams is broadly viewed as a quid pro quo in which the mayor is alleged to have traded compliance with Trump’s mass deportation policy in exchange for the charges being dropped. Four of Adams’ deputy mayors and seven federal prosecutors have resigned in the aftermath. On February 18th, Hochul announced that she was considering using her power to remove Adams from office, saying that “the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.” By Thursday, however, the Buffalo native announced that she would not pursue that option and instead protect New Yorkers’ ability to “make this decision for themselves” in the upcoming mayoral elections.
