Mayor Eric Adams gestures whereas talking about President Donald Trump, ICE and Immgration on January. 25, 2025.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Mayor Eric Adams’ Democratic major challengers slammed him on Monday over a report that he instructed high metropolis officers to not criticize Republican President Donald Trump and to not intrude with federal immigration enforcement actions at metropolis services.
A type of challengers, metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander, went as far as to recommend that Hizzoner had successfully instructed metropolis staff to help in a push to win Trump’s assist in dismissing his federal corruption prices.
“This morning in this very building, he reportedly gathered together his senior officials, commissioners, deputy mayors, to instruct them not to criticize Donald Trump, even though Trump is making efforts to cut off the funding that the agencies those commissioners supervise rely on every single day,” he added, referring to Trump’s current strikes to freeze huge quantities of federal funding.
Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander.Photograph by Gabriele Holtermann
One other mayoral candidate, Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani, took issues a step additional. He known as for an “immediate investigation” into whether or not Adams has “cut any kind of deal” with Trump’s administration that entails breaking metropolis legislation in change for assist together with his authorized troubles.
“Eric Adams has narrowed the focus of city government to a singular goal: keeping himself out of prison,” Mamdani mentioned in an announcement. “He appears willing to sacrifice anyone to achieve it.”
‘Tweets do not solve problems’
In response, Mayoral spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus reiterated that Adams is trying to work and “not war” with the Trump administration.
“Mayor Adams often speaks to his top leaders to discuss what they’re seeing on the ground in their respective departments and ways we can continue working together to provide for the people of New York City,” Mamelak Altus mentioned.
“Tweets do not solve problems, which is why addressing issues on the streets is what this administration is going to do,” she added, showing to discuss with metropolis officers and businesses publicly criticizing Trump’s administration.
Lander additionally took goal at clarified steering that town despatched out to all of its businesses — moreover the NYPD, Division of Correction, and Division of Schooling — that tells metropolis staff “do not interfere” with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers “in all instances.”
Town issued the brand new directive after a earlier model, instructing municipal staff to adjust to ICE in the event that they “reasonably feel threatened” by the brokers’ presence, final week led many pols to accuse Adams of violating town’s sanctuary legal guidelines.
The steering, a duplicate of which was obtained by New York News Metro, was specified by a circulate chart that additionally instructed metropolis staff to ask the brokers for identification and for them to current a judicial warrant. If brokers don’t present ID or a warrant, the chart instructs metropolis staff to not allow them to in and to name the NYPD and their basic counsels in the event that they enter anyway.
However Lander mentioned the clause instructing metropolis staff to not intrude is an “invitation to ICE to come into city facilities.”
The comptroller charged that the chart doesn’t embody a reputation or cellphone quantity for the precise company’s basic counsel, an outline of a judicial warrant, or footage of what a warrant appears like—all of which he mentioned is significant data for metropolis staff to have.
“It looks to me like a way of saying to ICE and other non-local law enforcement that you can come into New York City institutions, you are going to be able to waltz past our security and receptionists, more than it seems to be actually helpful guidance,” he mentioned.
