Crisis mode at City Hall amid Mayor Eric Adams' corruption scandal
New York City Mayor Eric Adams addresses a meeting of The Guardians Association at its Black History Month Celebration on Tuesday evening at the NYPD Police Academy in College Point, Queens. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Eric Adams’ City Hall, already embattled by his indictment last year on federal corruption charges, has now been plunged into an even deeper crisis that threatens to sink his mayoralty.
Four of Adams' deputies — touted last fall as reliable bureaucrats to demonstrate steady leadership to a principal under indictment — are quitting and soon to be gone.
Adams, who has been dodging general questions from news reporters for weeks, did so again Tuesday.
" 'Cause y'all liars!" the mayor answered, when questioned on topics related to the scandals imperiling his tenure.
And Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams, has questioned whether he can continue in office absent the four deputies: first deputy Maria Torres-Springer, who runs the city day-to-day; Anne Williams-Isom, who oversees health and human services, including the migrant crisis; operations chief Meera Joshi, and head of public safety Chauncey Parker, who was himself brought in to replace an Adams crony. The four resignations will leave four deputy mayors.
"If they feel unable to serve in City Hall at this time, that raises serious questions about the long-term future of this Mayoral administration," Hochul said in a statement released late Monday.
The deputies are quitting amid questions over whether Adams — whose criminal case the Justice Department has ordered be dismissed, in part, so he can help with Trump administration priorities, particularly an immigration crackdown — is unduly beholden to the White House.
The current crisis with the deputies boiled over in private during a candid meeting Friday on Zoom they had with Adams. Earlier that morning, Adams had appeared on Fox News with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who turned to Adams and warned him about reneging on a deal the two reached on expanding immigration enforcement in New York City: "I'll be in his office up, up his butt saying, 'where the hell is that agreement we came to?' "
In the Zoom meeting, the deputies reportedly voiced unease with serving in the administration while Adams owes fealty to Trump — the case can be resuscitated under the terms of the dismissal order — and Adams could be prosecuted on the Trump administration's whim.
On Wednesday, Adams is due in court to appear before a judge inquiring into the arrangement.
Pressure is growing on Adams to leave — or for him to be forced from office if he won’t go.
One of Adams’ opponents for the Democratic nomination for mayor, Scott Stringer, said Tuesday outside City Hall that he wants Hochul to oust Adams. And Adams’ counterpart in government, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor, on Monday called on him to resign.
On Saturday, the head of the State Senate, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), said, "It’s probably time that he move aside."
Even as Adrienne Adams has called on the mayor to step down, she has continued to rule out convening a so-called "inability committee." Under the city charter, the committee can meet to oust a mayor from office.
"This mayor," she said outside City Hall Tuesday afternoon, "is still very much breathing. Thank God. Mobile. Thank God. So that committee does not apply to this situation."
For his part, Adams has refused to resign, saying he would "step up" not step down. On Monday, he likened calls for him to go as akin to the Nazi-era Big Lie theory and Hitler’s manifesto "Mein Kampf."
Tuesday evening, he attended a Black History Month celebration at the NYPD police academy in College Point, Queens, hosted by the Guardians Association, a fraternal order for Black NYPD officers and other employees.
Adams apologized for being late.
“I’ve got a lot of things going on right now," he said.
At another point, Adams trotted out a familiar applause line: “Haters will be my waiters.”
With Nicholas Spangler
Eric Adams’ City Hall, already embattled by his indictment last year on federal corruption charges, has now been plunged into an even deeper crisis that threatens to sink his mayoralty.
Four of Adams' deputies — touted last fall as reliable bureaucrats to demonstrate steady leadership to a principal under indictment — are quitting and soon to be gone.
Adams, who has been dodging general questions from news reporters for weeks, did so again Tuesday.
" 'Cause y'all liars!" the mayor answered, when questioned on topics related to the scandals imperiling his tenure.
And Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams, has questioned whether he can continue in office absent the four deputies: first deputy Maria Torres-Springer, who runs the city day-to-day; Anne Williams-Isom, who oversees health and human services, including the migrant crisis; operations chief Meera Joshi, and head of public safety Chauncey Parker, who was himself brought in to replace an Adams crony. The four resignations will leave four deputy mayors.
"If they feel unable to serve in City Hall at this time, that raises serious questions about the long-term future of this Mayoral administration," Hochul said in a statement released late Monday.
The deputies are quitting amid questions over whether Adams — whose criminal case the Justice Department has ordered be dismissed, in part, so he can help with Trump administration priorities, particularly an immigration crackdown — is unduly beholden to the White House.
The current crisis with the deputies boiled over in private during a candid meeting Friday on Zoom they had with Adams. Earlier that morning, Adams had appeared on Fox News with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who turned to Adams and warned him about reneging on a deal the two reached on expanding immigration enforcement in New York City: "I'll be in his office up, up his butt saying, 'where the hell is that agreement we came to?' "
In the Zoom meeting, the deputies reportedly voiced unease with serving in the administration while Adams owes fealty to Trump — the case can be resuscitated under the terms of the dismissal order — and Adams could be prosecuted on the Trump administration's whim.
On Wednesday, Adams is due in court to appear before a judge inquiring into the arrangement.
Pressure is growing on Adams to leave — or for him to be forced from office if he won’t go.
One of Adams’ opponents for the Democratic nomination for mayor, Scott Stringer, said Tuesday outside City Hall that he wants Hochul to oust Adams. And Adams’ counterpart in government, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor, on Monday called on him to resign.
On Saturday, the head of the State Senate, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), said, "It’s probably time that he move aside."
Even as Adrienne Adams has called on the mayor to step down, she has continued to rule out convening a so-called "inability committee." Under the city charter, the committee can meet to oust a mayor from office.
"This mayor," she said outside City Hall Tuesday afternoon, "is still very much breathing. Thank God. Mobile. Thank God. So that committee does not apply to this situation."
For his part, Adams has refused to resign, saying he would "step up" not step down. On Monday, he likened calls for him to go as akin to the Nazi-era Big Lie theory and Hitler’s manifesto "Mein Kampf."
Tuesday evening, he attended a Black History Month celebration at the NYPD police academy in College Point, Queens, hosted by the Guardians Association, a fraternal order for Black NYPD officers and other employees.
Adams apologized for being late.
“I’ve got a lot of things going on right now," he said.
At another point, Adams trotted out a familiar applause line: “Haters will be my waiters.”
With Nicholas Spangler
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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