New York City Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to stay in office after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of letting Turkish officials and businesspeople buy his influence with illegal campaign contributions and lavish overseas trips. Fordham Law Adjunct Professor Jerry Goldfeder, director of Fordham Law School’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project, provides his legal opinion to NBC New York on whether Adams could be removed from office against his will.
If there were a widespread mutiny at City Hall, the question would become: What happens if Adams steps down?
If Adams were to resign (which he has said he won’t do), he would be immediately replaced by Jumaane Williams, a progressive Democrat who serves as the city’s public advocate. Williams would then schedule a non-partisan special election, the winner of which would finish Adams’ term. Then, the winner of the regular 2025 election would take over in 2026.
In a statement Thursday, Williams said Adams’ time to show he can effectively govern and regain the city’s trust “is rapidly running out,” though he, too, stopped short of calling on Adams to step down.
“He is saying that he will stay in office. But other people who have been indicted say they’ll stay in office, and ultimately they resign,” said election law expert Jerry Goldfeder, who leads Fordham University’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project. “Let’s believe him that he’s not going to resign — the governor can remove him.”
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Under the New York City charter, there is also a provision for what is called “mayoral inability.” Essentially what that means is a committee — comprised of the corporation counsel (a position that is currently empty), city comptroller, City Council speaker, a deputy mayor and the longest serving borough president (which would be Donovan Richards, of Queens) — could theoretically come together to oust him if four of the five determine the mayor is unable to serve.
However, both of those latter two options are highly improbable. Goldfeder said the mayoral inability provision was mostly intended for removal of sick or mentally incapable leaders.
“This is about not the physical or mental inability of Mayor Adams to function. This is about whether or not he can actually do his job while he is under indictment,” said Goldfeder.