After the U.S. attorney unsealed the recent indictment of Mayor Eric Adams, a host of public officials urged him to resign or be removed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Replacements of key aides are occurring every day at City Hall, and the Marist poll found a whopping 69% of New Yorkers want him gone one way or the other.
New York governors and NYC mayors usually have a fraught relationship (see, e.g., Rockefeller vs. Lindsay; Cuomo vs. de Blasio), but Hochul and Adams seem to have worked well together. So the current situation must be difficult for each of them, personally and politically. Add to this mix the impending presidential election—Adams is a presidential elector from New York. Although Adams insists he will not resign, he would not be the first public official to be pressured into changing his mind (see, Spiro Agnew, “I will not resign if indicted!”); and he would be following in the footsteps of ex-Mayors Jimmy Walker and William O’Dwyer. But if the governor removes him, it would be a first. In either case, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would succeed him until a special election was held within approximately 80 days.