13 Operative Questions As Of This Moment On The Balance of Power in NYC After Four Deputy Mayors Resign

Nobody knows what's next for imperiled Mayor Eric Adams. Here are the questions on my mind right now.

Breaking news in New York City. Four Deputy Mayors are resigning, a consequence of Mayor Adams’s corruption case being dismissed by the Trump DOJ in exchange for his cooperation in cracking down on immigrants. These four are excellent public servants and this is a real loss for stable government and our city. As rumors fly across the political world and we all consider what’s next, here are the 13 operative questions on my mind right now (Monday evening).

(1). Is the loss of the four deputy mayors enough to trigger the definition of the removal clause for Governor Kathy Hochul to act?

(2). Is there any political risk to Hochul in acting at this point?

(3). If Hochul acts, does Public Advocate Jumaane Williams run in the special election?

(4). Are there any candidates who could seriously challenge Andrew Cuomo in a special election (within 80 days and all voters allowed)?

(5). Could a big self funder enter the special and try to win by a massive ad blitz (is that even possible)?

(6). A special election in 80 days would be May 8 (if Hochul removes Adams tomorrow). The Democratic primary is June 24. Are the two elections effectively one and the same, just six weeks apart, or are the dynamics different enough (RCV and who votes) in a primary to get a different outcome?

(7). Would Adams run in the primary? Would he run as a Republican? Would anyone support him?

(8). If Adams loses power, does Trump ditch him (meaning no federal job of any kind)?

(9). If Hochul removes Adams, can she and Jumaane Williams convince the four Deputy Mayors to stay?

(10). How disruptive is having (potentially) three mayors in one year to City operations?

(11). Does current Comptroller Brad Lander stay in the mayoral race if Jumaane runs? If not, does he drop back to the Comptroller race, even though he can’t access matching funds? Can he win without them?

(12). If Lander does drop back to Comptroller, do Manhattan BP Mark Levine and City Councilman Justin Brannan stay in that race? Levine has the same matching funds issue if he drops back to BP.

(13). Who runs for Public Advocate if Juamanne is running for Mayor? Or does Jumaane run for mayor in a special and then public advocate if he loses the special? Can you submit signatures for different offices at the same time?