Half of New York City’s deputy mayors dramatically resigned Monday in a major blow to Eric Adams’ administration – as a top rival threatened the mass exodus could lead to his ouster.
The resignations of Adams’ four senior aides — led by First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer –thrust City Hall even deeper into uncharted territory as the mayor faces mounting questions about whether he can govern the city after his controversial reprieve from his historic corruption case by President Trump’s Justice Department.
The four deputy mayors — Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Health Human Services Anne Williams-Isom and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chauncey Parker — resigned as dozens rallied in support of Adams unfolded in Rehoboth Cathedral in Brooklyn.
The rally contrasted with the growing calls for Adams to resign or Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove him from office in light of Trump’s DOJ moving to scuttle his criminal case — a move that many critics argue makes the mayor a hostage to the president.
“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 in a statement.
orres-Springer, Williams-Isolm and Joshi issued a joint statement, citing the outgoing aides cited “the extraordinary events of the last few weeks” and “oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families” as what led them to the “difficult decision” to leave.
Parker said the role was an “honor of a lifetime” but gave no reason for his departure.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running for mayor in the Democratic primary, quickly fired off a letter to Adams demanding a “contingency plan” by Friday for how he’ll run the nation’s largest city.
He argued the leadership vacuum – as well as growing questions about whether Adams is beholden to Trump – could require him to invoke an obscure portion of the City Charter that sets up an “inability committee” with the powers to boot the mayor from office.
“In the absence of a contingency plan, the resignation of four or more deputy mayors, and the chaos created by the Justice Department’s actions regarding indictments against you, may well constitute inability to govern,” Lander wrote.
“Should your office be unable or unwilling to formulate such a plan promptly, I will seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee.”
The five-person inability committee would consist of the city comptroller, corporation counsel, a deputy mayor, City Council Speaker and longest-serving borough president.
Other than suspension or removal by the governor, the inability committee is one of the only ways to remove a New York City mayor from office.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor, said Monday that the resignations by the four deputy mayors showed the writing on the wall.
“(Eric Adams) now must prioritize New York City and New Yorkers, step aside and resign,” the speaker said in a statement. “This administration no longer has the ability to effectively govern with Eric Adams as mayor.”
At least three of the exiting senior aides had signaled their intent to depart Adams’ troubled administration over the weekend, prompting a desperate Zoom meeting in which the increasingly isolated mayor tried to convince them to stay, or at least delay their exits.
At least one other deputy mayor — Fabien Levy, the chief mouthpiece for Adams — is also unhappy and eyeing an exit, multiple sources have told The Post.
“Rats jumping a sinking ship is always pretty bad,” one pundit quipped
