Four Top Adams Deputies Resign Amid Erupting Mayoral Scandal
Four top deputies for embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams have resigned, according to a statement the mayor issued on Monday.
“I am disappointed to see them go, but given the current challenges, I understand their decision and wish them nothing but success in the future,” Adams said in a statement shared with CNN.
According to the outlet, the officials leaving the mayor’s office are Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations; Chauncey Parker, deputy mayor for public safety; Maria Torres-Springer, who served as first deputy mayor; and Anne Williams-Isom, the deputy mayor for health and human services.
“Due to the extraordinary events of the last few weeks and to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families, we have come to the difficult decision to step down from our roles,” read a joint statement from Joshi, Torres-Springer, and Williams-Isom, which was obtained by The New York Times.
They added, “While our time in this administration will come to a close, our support for the incredible public servants across the administration with whom we have stood shoulder to shoulder and our championing of this great city and all it stands for will never cease.”
The resignations come as President Donald Trump’s Justice Department has moved to dismiss corruption charges against Adams, apparently in exchange for his cooperation on Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration agenda.
Adams denied the allegations of a quid pro quo, as has Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan. But Adams is already working in tandem with Trump’s team: Following a closed-door meeting with Homan on Thursday, Adams agreed to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to work at the Rikers Island jail complex.
According to the Times, the deputy mayors who left Adams’ office felt increasingly uneasy about working for a man who was putting his personal interests over those of the city he leads. Politico reported on Friday that most of the departing staff members met with Adams and told him he was an insufficient leader. Adams apparently begged the deputies to stick around, at least through March, but they refused.
These aren’t the only officials who have opted to quit rather than be entangled with Adams’ mess. Late last week, six senior Justice Department officials, including the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, resigned in protest over orders to drop the corruption charges against Adams.
One of the resigning federal attorneys, Danielle Sassoon, whom Trump had appointed as a U.S. attorney on an interim basis, wrote in a scathing letter to newly minted Attorney General Pam Bondi that the administration’s move to dismiss Adams’s case amounted to a quid pro quo to help Trump on immigration-related matters.
Adams, a Democrat (at least for now), has faced increased pressure to resign, though he said over the weekend that he has no plans to. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is facing calls to remove Adams from office.
The mayor was under federal indictment and charged with bribery and campaign finance violations, but earlier this month, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the case. The president’s leniency toward Adams came after the mayor started playing friendly with the right. Adams has not only ripped into Democrats’ immigration policies but also accused the Democratic Party of leaving him.
“People often say, ‘Well, you know, you don’t sound like a Democrat, and you know, you seemed to have left the party,’” Adams said in an interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. “No, the party left me, and it left working-class people.”
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.
