Four of New York Mayor Eric Adams’ deputies have resigned amid the fallout over the Justice Department’s move to dismiss corruption charges against him last week and his cooperation with the Trump administration on immigration matters.
Hours after the resignations were made public, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she would be meeting Tuesday with “key leaders” to discuss a “path forward” to ensure stability for New York City. In a statement, she also addressed the governor’s constitutional power to remove a mayor.
“In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly,” she said in the statement. “That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.”
Last week, Adams pledged to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to the city’s Rikers Island jail at the meeting with White House border czar Tom Homan. One day later, the Justice Department moved to dismiss criminal corruption charges against Adams, which acting deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had ordered days earlier, sparking allegations of a quid pro quo between Adams and the Trump administration. Adams and his lawyers have denied any quid pro quo.
First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer; the deputy mayor for health and human services, Anne Williams-Isom; the deputy mayor for operations, Meera Joshi; and the deputy mayor for public safety, Chauncey Parker, all have told Adams they are stepping down, he confirmed in a statement Monday.
“I am disappointed to see them go, but given the current challenges, I understand their decision and wish them nothing but success in the future,” Adams said.
Torres-Springer, Williams-Isom and Joshi said in a joint statement that serving as deputy mayors had been “the greatest honor and privilege of our lives” and called the decision “difficult.
“Due to the extraordinary events of the last few weeks and to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families, we have come to the difficult decision to step down from our roles,” they said.
Parker did not say why he was resigning, saying only that serving as deputy mayor under Adams was “an honor of a lifetime.”
NBC New York first reported that resignations were pending after Politico reported that Adams and the deputies had a meeting Friday night.
The deputy mayors’ announcements add to a wave of resignations following the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss the bribery and fraud charges against Adams.
At least seven Justice Department officials have resigned over the department’s handling of Adams’ case, including Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor Danielle R. Sassoon, who refused to drop the charges against Adams after Bove ordered U.S. prosecutors to do so. Sassoon wrote in a memo to Attorney General Pam Bondi that “Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo” — which the mayor and his attorney, Alex Spiro, have denied. Adams has pleaded not guilty and alleged the charges are politically motivated.
After Adams met with Homan last week, the two men sat for an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Friday, in which Homan said he would be “up [Adams’] butt” if he did not follow through on his commitment. Homan said in an interview Sunday with CNN that allegations of a quid pro quo were “ridiculous” and that his conversation with Adams had been merely “cop to cop,” not “border czar to mayor.”
Adams, who is up for re-election in November, had faced a trial in April.
The governor did not detail who she was planning to meet with Tuesday but said New York City residents are her primary focus.
“Let me be clear: my most urgent concern is the well-being of my 8.3 million constituents who live in New York City,” she said in a statement. “I will be monitoring this situation extraordinarily closely to ensure that New Yorkers are not being shortchanged by the current crisis in City government.”
