Hochul Should Not Remove Eric Adams

I don’t like Donald Trump. I think many of his immigration policies are cruel and short sighted. I don’t think Eric Adams has been an effective mayor. I will not vote for him for re-election. I think the Justice Department’s stated reasoning for dropping the criminal charges against Adams was the wrong standard to use. I think the prosecutors in the case were brave and right to resign rather than cooperate with the decision. But it troubles me that our elected officials here in New York seem to be far more upset by the notion of Adams working with Trump than they were by Adams being charged with criminal conduct in the first place.

The time for Governor Kathy Hochul to remove Adams from office was when he was criminally indicted last October. She chose not to, mainly because the charges against Adams were confusing and the politics of removing him were dangerous. If Hochul didn’t remove Adams when he was actually criminally indicted, now she’s going to remove him because a bunch of politicians think he did something illegal? Even the prosecutors who quit the case and called the deal a quid pro quo did not say it was illegal. And they’re actual lawyers.

Did Adams do everything conceivable and then some to flatter Trump into dropping the charges? Of course he did. Did he promise Trump that he’ll follow his lead at all times? Seems very likely. But falling in line is also called politics. The Senate just confirmed half a dozen wackos because they didn’t want to defy Trump. Biden and his team deployed incredibly stupid immigration policies because they were afraid to defy the far left. Politicians appease other politicians and interest groups all of the time. They may be craven. They may be weak. They may be pathetic. But if we could just remove politicians for that, no one would be in office.

Prominent Democrats have called on Hochul to remove Adams (or Adams to resign) because, they argue, Trump now has undue influence over the mayor. But no one has articulated what that even means. Yes, Adams is cooperating with ICE and Trump’s policies towards deporting migrants. But this one issue alone — deportation of people here illegally arrested for crimes, an issue that has, at the very least, differing views among large groups of people — is not sufficient grounds for removal. You can’t just remove the mayor because you don’t like one of his policies or because he’s working with a politician or party you dislike. And you can’t just claim undue influence and demand the mayor be removed as a result without even being able to explain what the actual risk is.

The reason the governor has removal powers is in cases where the mayor cannot continue the duties of office, either because they’re physically incapacitated in some way or because they are facing accusations like criminal charges that debilitate their ability to govern. That already happened and Hochul chose not to.

Not only is Adams able to continue doing his job, but in large part thanks to pressure from Hochul last fall, almost all of the corrupt staffers in Adams’ administration were driven out of office. The people left are mainly competent civil servants doing a good job. What we have right now is what we should have had from the beginning. After Adams was indicted and after Trump was elected, the City Council even passed Adams’ City of Yes housing plan, which is the most significant piece of municipal legislation to happen in years. They’re functioning just fine.

If Hochul caves to pressure to remove Adams over this now, then what? Every time a mayor in New York takes a view another politician doesn’t like, we’re going to debate whether or not they should keep their job? The governor is now the arbiter of what mayors are and are not allowed to think? If so, why have mayors at all?

Do I think Eric Adams would sell out his own mother for a pardon? Yes. Do I think Trump’s stance against immigration is the single greatest way to destroy our economy and eliminate our one true global competitive advantage? Yes. But should Kathy Hochul even consider removing Eric Adams from office just because he’s acting in a way Democrats don’t like? No.

That’s the kind of thing an authoritarian like Trump would do. She’s better than that.