New York sinks a little more into the crisis: the municipal council called on Monday February 17 to the “resignation” of the mayor of the American city, the Democrat Eric Adams, entangled for several days in a politico-judicial saga against the backdrop of Rapper with the Trump administration about immigration.
UFO in his own camp from which he came from the right wing, Eric Adams is under pressure on two fronts. First, a judicial soap opera with corruption proceedings that bounce almost daily since the government of President Donald Trump has been trying to classify the case. Added to this is a local political crisis, the left wing of the largest American city criticizing its collusion with the new power over the issue of immigration.
Cascade resignations
On Monday, four influential deputy mayor of New York said they were going to resign. “Due to the extraordinary events of the past few weeks, and to remain faithful to the oaths that we have lent to New Yorkers and to our families, we made the difficult decision to resign from our functions,” wrote two of the four resigning assistants in an email to their team, consulted by the New York Times.
“These resignations are the culmination of the actions and decisions of the mayor, which have led to months of instability and now compromise the sovereignty of the city”, threatened “of chaos,” said the president of the council on Monday in a statement Municipal of New York, Adrienne Adams. “He must now give priority to New York City and New Yorkers, put himself aside and resign,” she continued.
Several relatives of the mayor, including his Commissioner for Health, and the Chancellor in Education, had already resigned in September.
Towards a dismissal?
The governor of the state of New York Kathy Hochul, who has the possibility of dismissing the mayor, did not exclude the hypothesis in the evening, announcing in a statement that she was going to summon a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the ‘future. “In 235 years in New York State history, these powers have never been used to dismiss a democratically elected mayor. […] That said, the facts alleged against the town hall in the past two weeks are disturbing and cannot be ignored, “she said. Collective resignation, she said, asks” serious questions The long -term future of this municipal administration “.
Calls to the deputy mayor – which categorically excludes him as he rejects the accusations of corruption he has been the subject – have multiplied since the Trump administration has put pressure on justice to save Eric Adams a trial in A case of bribes involving Turkey.
For the past week, these injunctions have led to cascade resignations of at least seven prosecutors in New York and Washington who refuse to comply with the Ministry of Justice. Number 2 of the ministry and former lawyer for Donald Trump, Emil Bove, had to resolve himself on Friday to transmit the request, formally, in order to lift the proceedings with the Manhattan judge in charge of the file. The latter must still decide to validate, or not, the request.
The ministry argues in substance that these are politically motivated prosecution and that they prevent Eric Adams from applying in the city of 8 million inhabitants the policy wanted by Donald Trump in the fight against illegal immigration.
Break with progressive tradition
The detractors of the mayor, who appears in recent days alongside the “Tsar des Frontières” Tom Homan – responsible for the massive eviction program -, accuse him of breaking increasingly ostensibly with the progressive tradition of New York.
The Bastion Democrat, which has seen more than 200,000 migrants flock in the past two years, has set up a status as “sanctuary city” for immigrants, voted by its elected officials and which provides for a limitation of cooperation with the police federal responsible for combating irregular immigration. However, last week, Eric Adams said he was ready to collaborate more with the central power on this subject, in particular by associating the federal immigration police of local police officers, the NYPD.
As since his indictment in September, Eric Adams, a former police captain, still kicked out after the resignations around him. “I am disappointed to see them go,” he said in a statement. “But given the current challenges, I understand their decision”.