Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York acknowledged that people were “concerned” about President Donald Trump’s “influence” Thursday when asked why she didn’t remove Democratic Mayor Eric Adams of New York City.
The Biden administration Justice Department secured an indictment charging Adams with bribery, fraud and accepting illegal campaign donations in September, but the Trump administration sought to drop the charges over concerns that they were politically motivated and were preventing Adams from combating illegal immigration. “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire asked Hochul, who has the authority to remove Adams from office, if she could change her mind about not exercising that power.
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“Certainly. And it’s an extraordinary power to think that one individual can use her judgment and say that you’ve lost the public trust and so it’s not one that you take lightly,” Hochul said. “But I also know there’s a lot of people in the city who are very concerned about the influence of the Trump administration in our city. They’re trying very hard to have control over everything, not just immigration, but even how I control the traffic in New York. So this is a concern.”
“A lot of people are outraged. People are very concerned about this, worried. But I said, if I can get some controls in place to give me line of sight into budget investigations, legal, and this all has to be approved by the city council. I can’t even unilaterally do those controls,” Hochul continued. “I was just trying to create some safeguards that people can dial down the temperature a little bit. And just like I had to do last fall, calm it down and just let people know that we’re fighting for them, working for them, and not all this drama that seems to be just so prevalent all the time. New Yorkers are just getting exhausted.”
Black state legislators wrote to Hochul Feb. 19 to oppose the removal of Adams, arguing his political fate should be decided in June’s primary election
Adams appeared with Trump administration border czar Tom Homan on “Fox and Friends” Feb. 14, where they announced that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would operate at Rikers Island.
Over 200,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since 2022, the New York Times reported, prompting Adams to announce a number of budget cuts in November 2023, including closing libraries on Sundays and freezing hiring for the New York Police Department as part of the effort to address the costs of housing migrants arriving in the city.
“This issue will destroy New York City,” Adams said in September 2023. “We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month. … people all over the globe have made their minds up that they’re going to come through the southern part of the border and come into New York City.”
Over 130 hotels in New York City closed their doors to tourists in order to shelter illegal immigrants, sending prices for hotel rooms for tourists to over $300, the New York Times reported in May 2024, receiving anywhere from $139 to $185 per room per night for sheltering migrants.
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