Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 38
Appearing to buy herself time on Monday, the governor put the act of suspending — and possibly removing — Adams from office on the back burner.
“This is still fairly new,” she said during an unrelated event at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey headquarters in Lower Manhattan. “We must convince New Yorkers, let them know that there is responsible leadership that knows how to govern and I have to restore that.”
After reading the five criminal count indictment against Adams, some elected officials are pressuring Hochul to invoke the little-used power to remove Adams from office available under broad powers in the state Constitution and the New York City Charter.
“I have talked to the mayor about what my expectations are and I don’t give the details of private conversations,” Hochul explained.
The pair spoke on the phone last Thursday.
She made it clear: Adams needs to prove he can still govern, according to a source briefed on the call.
Hochul faces more pressure from the powerful civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton. He said Hochul should not just hand Adams the pink slip.
“I’ve known Eric Adams for 35 years. He deserves due process. He has earned the right like any other citizen to be given due process and not be convicted of a crime before a trial,” Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, said in Harlem on Sept. 28.
“The governor should not be pressured into removing Eric Adams from being the mayor,” he continued.
Hochul, responding on Monday, said she’s watching Adams.
“I have a lot of respect for Reverend Al Sharpton. I speak to him often, and respect his leadership and will continue to work with him,” she said. “I’m not going to stand here and give a timeline. My responsibility is to make sure that New York City functions at a highly effective level, and I’m monitoring the situation and watching for that to occur, making sure that we convince New Yorkers it’s going to be difficult.”
Adams spent the last several days in the public eye of millions of New York City residents — a massive constituency that Hochul is quick to mention she also shares.
“I’m giving the mayor an opportunity now to demonstrate to New Yorkers — and to me — that we are righting the ship, that we have the opportunity to instill the confidence that I think is wavering right now and to power forward with an effective government,” Hochul said.
Hochul declined to say whether she’s discussed next steps with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. However, she admitted she is actively having conversations about the mayor.
Source: Spectrum News NY1
