U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx and Queens, is among the latest elected officials calling for Mayor Eric Adams to resign or be removed by the governor.
Pressure is mounting against Adams following the resignation of several federal prosecutors who refused to follow orders from acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to drop the case against Adams on charges of corruption and illegal campaign donations.
“Mayor Adams is putting the City of New York and its people at risk in exchange for escaping charges,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on X Feb 13. “As long as Trump wields this leverage over Adams, the city is endangered. We cannot be governed under coercion. If Adams won’t resign, he must be removed.”
Adams hit back, reportedly calling AOC a “no-show congresswoman” and saying, “I don’t know when the last time [constituents] saw her in her congressional district.”
Bove said in a memo that dropping the charges, at least for now, is necessary to allow Adams to focus on aiding federal immigration enforcement and on the upcoming mayoral election. Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned rather than obey the order, as did at least five other federal prosecutors.
Elected officials from the Bronx and elsewhere, as well as Adams’ mayoral challengers — some of whom previously called for Adams to resign, as AOC has — are now weighing in on his potential removal, which Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to carry out.
Although Trump denied advance knowledge of the Department of Justice order to drop the case, and Adams has denied the charges against him, some now view Adams as inextricably and inappropriately beholden to Trump.
Rep. Ritchie Torres stopped short of calling for Adams’ removal but had strong words for the mayor in a Feb. 11 post on X, calling Adams “compromised” and saying that NYC “has been all but reduced to a subsidiary of the Trump Administration.”
Michael Blake, a former Bronx assemblymember challenging Adams in this year’s mayoral election, held a press conference Thursday in which he called Adams a “compromised Trump asset” and announced the launch of an online petition for Hochul to remove him. The petition had over 200 signatures by noon Friday.
Blake expressed particular concern over Adams’ latest meeting with Trump “border czar” Tom Homan, where they discussed reopening a federal immigration office at Rikers Island, which has been prohibited by local law since 2014.
Blake said the meeting “appears to be the latest effort to secure a commitment from NYC leadership to assist in the administration’s push to round up and deport undocumented immigrants.”
“New York City is a sanctuary city that stands up for immigrants and asylum seekers,’ he said. “We have local laws on the books that clearly decree hate and fear aren’t welcome in our diverse communities, laws that neither Adams nor Trump can ignore.”
Hochul is now in a highly unusual situation. The last time a New York governor removed a local elected leader was in the early 1930s. She has not ruled out the possibility of removing Adams but said she is now carefully weighing the decision in light of recent events.
In a Feb. 13 appearance on MSNBC, Hochul said she cannot rush to a decision.
“I have to do what’s smart, what’s right, and I’m consulting with other leaders in government at this time,” she said. “I need some time to process this and figure out the right approach.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
