ALBANY, New York — The unprecedented political and legal crisis engulfing Mayor Eric Adams is landing at the doorstep of his ally Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The moderate governor is under rapidly expanding pressure from fellow Democrats to act against Adams as he appears to carry out the Trump administration’s conservative immigration policy after a top Department of Justice official called for the mayor’s corruption case to be tossed.
The situation has turned New York’s political world on its head.
In a stunning move, Hochul’s hand-picked lieutenant governor outflanked her and called for Adams to resign. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a cautious and reserved Brooklyn Democrat, is questioning the mayor’s political future. And New York City’s lefty public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who would temporarily become mayor if Adams leaves office before his term ends, has signaled he would be ready to serve.
Waiting in the wings is former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Yet to declare in the mayor’s race, Hochul’s hard-charging old boss would likely benefit from Adams being taken off the political chessboard given their shared political base.
It’s a nightmare scenario for any governor. For Hochul, it’s a dilemma that threatens compounding political damage ahead of her 2026 reelection bid.
“She probably didn’t want to be in this position at all,” said Democratic operative Lupe Todd-Medina.
The appearance that Adams, the city’s second Black mayor who was elected on a law-and-order platform, is essentially a puppet of the Republican president has alarmed Democrats in deep blue New York. The urgency deepened Thursday after former acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned in a letter in which she wrote of what amounted to “a quid pro quo” to aid Trump’s immigration policies. Sassoon refused to carry out an order seeking to conditionally dismiss the case, but on Friday two Justice Department officials submitted that motion to the court.
Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro has denied Sassoon’s quid pro quo claim and called it a “total lie.”
The mayor has insisted he won’t resign.
“The mayor has been clear, he’s not stepping down, he’s stepping up,” Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement. “As he said yesterday, we must put this difficult episode behind us so that trust can be restored, New York can move forward, and we can continue delivering for the people of this city.”
Hochul previously dismissed questions about removing Adams from office but was equivocal in her support of him during an MSNBC interview Thursday evening. She pointedly did not rule out seeking his ouster, the first indication her backing of the mayor has a limit.
“The allegations are extremely concerning and serious, but I cannot as the governor of this state have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction like a lot of other people are saying right now,” she said in the interview. “I’ve got to do it smart, what’s right and I’m consulting with other leaders in government right now.”
It’s a remarkable situation for Hochul, who has made a point of working well with Adams on issues like public safety — a contrast to the often contentious relationship between New York mayors and governors of the past.
Hochul would also need political cover if she were to remove Adams, whose base is composed of Black voters. Some clergy leaders — including those friendly toward Cuomo — have signaled to Hochul she would receive backing if the decision to oust Adams needs to be made.
“The moves the mayor has made here are totally unacceptable to us,” the Rev. Johnnie Green said. “We’re out of options. We’re dealing with Mayor Trump now, if I may say. This isn’t a case of Mayor Adams being in charge.”
Green has yet to call for Adams’ resignation or removal. But he said the mayor’s support has significantly dwindled.
“At some point the levy is going to break,” Green said.
Still, the Rev. Al Sharpton believes events need to unfold more before pressing Hochul to act and remove Adams. The mayor’s case has not been formally tossed and a federal judge’s determination could once again alter the trajectory of the melodrama.
“If the judge comes back and says I’m not letting you stop the trial, there’s nothing for her to do,” Sharpton said of Hochul. “If the judge says that the charges are out, then you have an appeal to the governor because you can say the criminal justice system did not answer this. So what are we asking to do — to preempt the judge?”
Attorney General Letitia James, another Hochul ally, was also careful not to supersede the governor.
“There’s a number of discussions going on, discussions going on at the state level, discussions going on at the local level, private discussions. So at this point in time, we’re going to refrain from making comments until such time as we complete these discussions to determine the fate of the mayor of the city of New York,” she said.
Their stances could buy time for the governor, who has little political capital to spend at the moment. A Buffalo-area Democrat, her job approval and favorability ratings have been abysmal for much of the last year. Democrats have quietly wondered whether she will be able to seek reelection in 2026, though she has flexed her fundraising muscles with a formidable war chest.
The Adams saga has also opened up a new fissure with her hand-picked lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who called on Adams to resign. That drew a rebuke from Hochul’s spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe, who said Delgado “does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”
Delgado on Friday did not appear chastened by the reaction from the governor’s office but stopped short when asked directly if Hochul should remove Adams from office.
“The first step is to call for a resignation … give him a chance to think about the best way forward,” Delgado told reporters in Albany.
The episode underscored the extraordinarily narrow political tightrope the cautious governor is walking with Adams. Prominent Democrats in the state Legislature have urged her in the last day to remove the mayor — a list that now includes Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and her deputy, state Sen. Michael Gianaris.
But Hochul signaled Thursday evening that she’s showing deference to fellow leaders — a roster that likely includes powerbrokers Jeffries and Rep. Gregory Meeks. Both Democrats respectively hold sway in Brooklyn and Queens and would have to shield the governor from any fallout with voters of color.
Jeffries has not called for Adams to resign or be removed, but he acknowledged the concerns raised by New York Democrats.
“Most importantly, there are people in the communities who I represent in Brooklyn who are deeply alarmed at the unfolding events connected to the current mayor of the city of New York,” Jeffries told reporters Thursday.
Adams’ leaving office or — less dramatically — ending his mayoral campaign would create unpalatable outcomes for the governor. The mayor’s removal from the mayoral race would be a boost for Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after he was accused of sexual harassment, which he has denied. The former governor has a base of working-class voters of color, as well as Jewish New Yorkers, who could otherwise be persuaded to vote for Adams.
If she removes Adams, a special election would likely make it easier for Cuomo to leverage his broad name recognition and reputation in order to run and win. Cuomo is yet to announce a bid for mayor, but public polling has shown he would easily defeat his lesser-known challengers.
Adams and Hochul, meanwhile, have worked well together during their overlapping tenures. The governor has gone to lengths highlighting their positive relationship, and they are largely aligned on policies like public safety. She has also been a stabilizing force amid Adams' legal woes and has been credited with replacing scandal-scarred City Hall officials.
Yet the mood remains restive in New York political circles with Adams’ eroding position.
“People need to be looking at these alternatives and say to themselves who can they trust to uphold the laws of all New Yorkers, who can they trust to defend their city against a tyrant, an oligarch,” said Jennifer Jones Austin, executive director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, an antipoverty group.
Hochul is also familiar with the byways of federal prosecutors: Her husband, Bill Hochul, was a U.S. attorney during the Obama administration.
“You got to have one sane person in this state who can cut through all the crap and say, ‘What does my responsibility guide me to do?’” Hochul said Thursday.
Michael Gartland and Emily Ngo contributed to this report.
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