Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens) called on Mayor Eric Adams to resign Wednesday “for the good of the city” amid an unrelenting maelstrom of federal investigations surrounding City Hall.
Ocasio-Cortez is perhaps the most high-profile pol to urge Adams to step down thus far, following a steady stream of similar calls from left-leaning city and state lawmakers in recent days. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) and first reported by the New York Times, AOC questioned how Adams can effectively lead the city after weeks of federal raids on some of his top aides and several of top administration officials running for the exit in recent days.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening [government] function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign.”
But mayor Adams was quick to clap-back at the Democratic Socialist in a firey statement.
“For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo — without even a single charge being filed — is the height of hypocrisy,” Adams said, referring to Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive stance on criminal justice issues. “I am leading this city to protect it from exactly that kind of phony politics. The people of this city elected me to fight for them, and I will stay and fight no matter what.”
While Ocasio-Cortez has been a steadfast Adams critic since he took office in 2022, she is the first member of Congress to call for ouster. She joins other progressive city and state lawmakers in demanding Adams step aside, including City Council Member Tiffany Cabán (D-Queens), state Senator Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn).
There are currently four known federal corruption investigations surrounding Adams and some of his closest aides. Two of these investigations came into public view earlier this month when the feds raided the homes and seized the phones of several top City Hall officials.
The ramped-up federal action has led to a rapid succession of resignations, including former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, City Hall Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, and Education Chancellor David Banks — one of the officials whose home was searched.
Adams, for his part, has continued to brush off those calls.
During a Sept. 24 news conference, he insisted the politicos urging him to resign were never fans of his to begin with. He added that his administration’s purported success in bringing down crime and reviving the city’s economy coming out of the coronavirus pandemic shows that the myriad investigations surrounding it have not been a distraction from governing.
“They were saying that on Jan. 1, 2022,” Adams said. “Their noise don’t match the numbers, that’s all I can say … We’re gonna keep doing what we’re doing, delivering for New Yorkers. We’re focused on people, not politics. So, they can do their political thing, I have to be focused on the people of the city.”
