New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) on Monday called on Mayor Eric Adams to prove he can still govern the city amid calls for his resignation after the Justice Department dropped bribery charges against him and four deputy mayors submitted their intent to resign.
In a letter to Adams, Lander said the potential resignations of the deputy mayors could “create an unprecedented leadership vacuum at the highest levels of City government and wreak havoc on the City’s ability to deliver essential services to New Yorkers.”
“Given the gravity of this situation and the chaos it has unleashed among New Yorkers, I formally request that your office promptly develop and present a detailed contingency plan outlining how you intend to manage the City of New York during this period of leadership transition,” he wrote.
NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS DEMOCRAT
New York City Mayor Eric Adams departs Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City on Friday, November 1, 2024. Adams’ lawyers are seeking to have a bribery charge, one of the five federal corruption charges that have been filed against the mayor, dropped. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital )
“Specifically, please provide immediate confirmation of your plan for appointing interim Deputy Mayors and key managerial staff, along with an anticipated timeline for stabilizing the administration, no later than Friday, February 21, 2025,” Lander added.
If Adams fails to provide a plan, Lander said he would seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee. Fox News Digital has reached out to Adams’ office.
In a letter last week to Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon said Adams was being granted special treatment by the Trump administration after receiving a memo drafted by Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directing the case against the mayor to be dropped.
Rather than carry out the directive, Sassoon and several others resigned instead. Adams was charged last year with bribery, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Former U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon pictured in an undated official portrait. (Reuters)
Critics say Adams has cozied up to the Trump administration, and offered to cooperate on Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown in an effort to get a pardon.
“These resignations come in the wake of deeply concerning actions by the U.S. Justice Department, asking the U.S. District Court to drop the indictments against you, so long as you comply with the White House on matters of immigration and criminal justice policy, which call into question your ability to continue to comply with your duties to New Yorkers under the City Charter,” Lander wrote in his letter.
On Sunday, Adams told churchgoers in Queens that he is refusing to resign.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has rebuffed calls for him to resign after the Justice Department dropped a bribery case against him. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“I have a mission to finish, the mission that God put me on many years ago,” Adams said, adding that “God has fortified me.”
Adams told “Fox & Friends” in an interview on Friday that he plans to run for re-election as a Democrat.
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