Mayor Adams Should Resign Immediately or Be Removed by Governor Hochul

We call on Mayor Adams to resign immediately. If he does not resign, we call on Governor Hochul to remove him from office using the powers granted her in Section 33(2) of the New York State Public Officers Law. We ask Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie to publicly support the Governor using her removal authority.

Mayor Adams is innocent of criminal charges until proven guilty. But regardless of his ultimate guilt or innocence to the specific federal charges, we believe the extensive revelations of serious misdeeds by numerous people who work for the mayor, the indictment of the mayor himself, the resignation of top commissioners – including the heads of the police, schools, and health departments – have left Mayor Adams unable to effectively govern and left New York City government functionally leaderless. 

Calling for a Mayor to resign or be replaced immediately is a very serious matter – but so is soliciting gifts and campaign contributions from a foreign government, concocting straw donor schemes to hide campaign contributions from a foreign government and foreign nationals, and repeatedly lying on disclosure forms that exist to deter public officials from accepting illegal gifts. We emphasize to elected officials and journalists that the U.S. Attorney’s case is very strong because it accuses Adams of illegal payments from foreign nationals – and is not subject to the difficult standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court cases that have weakened bribery laws involving U.S. citizens. 

We are extremely mindful of the potential for prosecutorial abuse or gubernatorial overreach, but Mayor Adams should not be allowed to dictate through the timing of his resignation when a special election to replace him takes place. Under the City Charter’s detailed rules for mayoral special elections, the clock starts when the Mayor leaves office and there are many restrictions on when the election can happen. Functionally, if the Mayor is determined not to resign, he can stymie an orderly and democratic succession while keeping city government paralyzed. 

Since day one, Reinvent Albany has sharply criticized the Adams administration for cronyism, widespread conflict of interest, and pay-to-play. Still, we strongly support New York City home rule and deeply regret having to call for any governor to remove any mayor. 

Sources:
New York Public Officers Law Section 33(2)
§ 33. Removals by governor.
1. An officer appointed by the governor
for a full term or to fill a vacancy, whose appointment is not required
by law to be made by and with the advice and consent of the senate, any
county treasurer, any county superintendent of the poor, any register of
a county or any coroner, except as otherwise provided by special
provisions of law, may be removed by the governor within the term for
which such officer shall have been chosen, after giving to such officer
a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be heard in his
defense.
2. The chief executive officer of every city and the chief or
commissioner of police, commissioner or director of public safety or
other chief executive officer of the police force by whatever title he
may be designated, of every city may be removed by the governor after
giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him and an
opportunity to be heard in his defense. The power of removal provided
for in this subdivision shall be deemed to be in addition to the power
of removal provided for in any other law. The provisions of this
subdivision shall apply notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of
any general, special or local law, ordinance or city charter.