Inside the ‘permission structure’ of Kathy Hochul’s decision on whether to remove Eric Adams from office

For the past three weeks, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been closely listening to Gov. Kathy Hochul. According to Hochul herself, Adams has taken her advice to part ways with multiple top aides following the criminal corruption charges filed against him on Sept. 26 (to which he has pleaded not guilty) and the sprawling investigations around his administration.

The two have maintained a friendly relationship over the past couple years, referring to each other as partners in government. But following the indictment, Adams’ future isn’t only in the hands of voters or Judge Dale Ho, who is presiding over his federal corruption case. It’s also in the hands of his partner, Hochul, who as governor holds a seldom-used statutory power to remove Adams from office.

It’s unlikely, however, that Hochul would pull that lever without the backing of other political power players in the city. That group includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Queens Democratic leader and Rep. Greg Meeks and the Rev. Al Sharpton, several observers and political consultants said. Together, they are three of the most powerful political and civic leaders – and powerful Black leaders – in New York City. Individually, they have their own national profiles – Sharpton from decades as a civil rights activist, Jeffries as the hopeful speaker of the House of Representatives – as well as local power in Adams’ bases of support in the outer boroughs.

“(Hochul) technically has the power to take him out of office, but it’s highly unlikely that she would do so without a permission structure that includes the political leadership of the city, particularly those members that come from the mayor’s base,” said Democratic strategist and former state Democratic Party Executive Director Basil Smikle. 

Another Democratic strategist said that while Hochul is in control of that removal lever – or the softer power lever of calling for Adams to step down – those three would hold significant sway. “It’s like one of those student driver cars,” the strategist said. “(Hochul) may be behind the wheel, but they have the brake and the accelerator under their feet.”

Hochul faces both political and logistical risks to wielding that power unilaterally. It hasn’t really been tested against a New York City mayor – Jimmy Walker resigned before former Gov. Franklin Roosevelt had to follow through with removal – and as described in state law, it’s vague on procedure. Then there are the political risks to acting unilaterally to remove the city’s second Black mayor. “What she risks doing is undermining the power and agency of communities of color that elected her, and a community that is already somewhat leery of law enforcement and the media,” Smikle said.

That may be why political insiders have closely monitored the public statements of the big three in the weeks since Adams’ indictment. City Hall said that Adams maintains strong relationships with all of them. Following the departures of many of the top advisers from the Adams administration who are being scrutinized by investigators, Hochul has publicly expressed some confidence in the mayor. “I had asked him to work to bring in new blood, and new blood to help stabilize the city, calm it all down, and he’s doing that,” she said over the weekend, adding that Adams is “working well through the chaos.”

Sharpton, who goes back the longest with Adams – he’s credited the mayor as a founding member of his advocacy organization the National Action Network – has said that Hochul shouldn’t be pressured into removing Adams. Jeffries, who has clashed with Adams on some local Brooklyn races over the years, said earlier this month that Adams shouldn’t resign. And in a statement shortly after the indictment was unsealed, Meeks called the indictment “serious” but said that the justice process needs to play out. “The main tenet of the United States justice system is that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Due process must run its course, allowing for a jury of his peers to render a verdict.” None provided additional comments for this article.

But while Sharpton, Meeks and Jeffries are seen as influential, they’re not the only ones who could hold sway. Other clergy and civic leaders including state NAACP President Hazel Dukes – who has stood by Adams’ side in his defense – and business and labor leaders could be influential voices too. Several consultants also mentioned state legislative leaders Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, as well as New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, as people who Hochul might consult.

So far, Hochul has cast a wide net, and likely would continue to do so, when it comes to taking the temperature of leaders in the city about how to move forward. “She's been very deliberative,” said Partnership for New York City President Kathryn Wylde, who was also mentioned as an influential voice in the business community. “She’s had conversations with a lot of people. In my conversation, she was just checking: ‘Do you see any real problems? What will assure people that the city government is functioning well?’” Wylde said that Hochul did not explicitly bring up the idea of using her power to remove the mayor.

Fabien Levy, Adams’ deputy mayor for communications, said that Jeffries, Meeks and Sharpton – as well as others including Dukes and Wylde – are among the people that the mayor regularly communicated with before the indictment and who he would continue to speak with. “He is focused on doing his job as mayor, and that is making sure that services are still functioning for 8.3 million New Yorkers,” Levy said.