With Eric Adams Indicted, What Happens Next?

The indictment of Mayor Eric Adams prompted calls for his resignation Wednesday evening, but there is no legal requirement that he leave office.

Mr. Adams, in a videotaped speech posted online late Wednesday, proclaimed his innocence, vowed to fight any charges against him and made it clear he did not plan to resign.

There is another way Mr. Adams could leave office: The New York City Charter gives Gov. Kathy Hochul the power to remove him.

A governor has not exercised such powers in recent memory.

The closest precedent occurred in 1931, when Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt held 14 days of hearings into the misconduct of Mayor Jimmy Walker, who eventually resigned in 1932 before going to Europe.

Roosevelt, The New York Times wrote at the time, thought the memos were "Of some importance because the Walker case in the future would be referred to in other cases involving the power of removal of certain public officials by the governor and because, unlike cases at law, no opportunity exists for including a digest of any such extensive cases in any law report." It is unclear how Ms. Hochul would pursue Mr. Adams's removal, or if she would try.

Mr. McGuire noted that some specific charges are required, but the courts have never determined how specific they must be, enabling governors "To use the removal power as a club to force resignations."

https://dnyuz.com/2024/09/25/with-eric-adams-indicted-what-happens-next/