Yesterday was an interesting day in New York politics. My updated post from yesterday included the YouTube video of Hochul’s off-the-hook press conference, but here’s a writeup:
After decreeing the death of congestion pricing, President Donald Trump declared “long live the king” on social media. Speaking later the same day, Gov. Kathy Hochul alluded to the Revolutionary War, pointedly reminding reporters that New York has taken on a king before – and won.
Within hours of receiving a letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stating that the Federal Highway Administration was rescinding its approval for congestion pricing, Hochul offered her strongest rhetorical rebuke of Trump since he returned to the White House. “I don’t care if you love congestion pricing or hate it,” Hochul said. “This is an attack on our sovereign identity, our independence from Washington.” She attacked Trump’s evocation of kingship, noting that New York hasn’t been under royal rule for 250 years. “This is what we fought for – people like Alexander Hamilton and others fought for – to set up a system (where) we are not subservient to a king or anyone else out of Washington,” Hochul said.
[…]On Wednesday, Hochul used more colorful language to describe her conversation with Trump after the lawsuit was made public. “I called up the president and said, ‘I’m not coming down tomorrow,’” she said. “‘I don’t know what your plan is. Are you going to slap handcuffs on my goddamn hands?’” Hochul next plans to meet with Trump when she is in Washington later this week for the National Governors Association winter meeting.
Hochul even made use of a prop during the Wednesday press conference, holding up a mock cover of Time magazine featuring Trump in a crown and the word “TRUMP” at the top. “Next time you’re stuck in traffic, the next time your train is delayed, the next time you’re in a flooded station because infrastructure carries are not made – I want you to think of this,” she said, pointing to the fake magazine cover. And Hochul offered a final message of defiance against the Trump administration’s order to shut down congestion pricing program’s license plate readers: “The cameras stay on.”
She was fired up and it’s worth watching at least the early part of the video of her press conference. Luckily, Hochul did not follow the terrible advice of Rep Dan Goldman, NY-10:
Dear media:
Please do not waste time hyperventilating about this dumb comment.
It’s intended to be a distraction from all of the damaging actions he’s taking.
Focus on those.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman.dg4ny.co) February 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Anyway, back to Eric Adams, whose fate Hochul refused to discuss at the press conference. This happened yesterday:
Eight Black state legislators ask Hochul not to remove Adams – “our communities will never forget it” if she does and she should leave it up to voters.
Led by Brooklyn Dems leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, list also includes lawmakers close to Jeffries and Meeks.
— Jeff Coltin (@jccoltin.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
One big reason for this is this power bloc doesn’t want Jumaane Williams to become mayor, which would happen if Hochul removed Adams.
There’s some incorrect information being repeatedly asserted in the comments about the removal process as stated in the New York City Charter. This is the entirety of Section 9, the removal section:
The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.
So the sequence is charges coupled with suspension if the governor chooses, hearing, removal. The charges can stem from the indictment [pdf] which is very detailed, with the addition of Danielle Sassoon’s resignation letter, which details the quid-pro-quo. This is a case of political will, not procedural delay. He could be out today if Hochul wanted to act.
Edit: Fox is up with their reaction: Alina Habba asking why bad Kathy Hochul wants to make people ride the unsafe subways.
Belafon
I’m not black, but “Don’t remove him because our communities will remember” just seems odd in the face of what Adam’s has clearly compromised himself on. He’s not being removed for being a bad mayor, he’s being removed for the corruption and the threat the Trump White House has over him.
Leto
“Without a justifiable legal reason” Indictment on bribery and campaign finance violations aren’t enough, nor the fact the charges are being dropped in a quid pro quo?
On Tyranny. Whatever. You do you NY.
Alce _e_ardillo
They don’t want to remove him yet. They want him out when Cuomo can’t sneak in under the radar.
prostratedragon
@Belafon: What some would remember was that a Black politician was removed while White Beelzebub was not. No idea how it actually would poll (or how Adams actually did before with the Black vote, since you could see him from space), but with slender majorities for the Dems I can understand the caution.
Barbara
@Belafon: I read this more as a threat of “we will never let our communities forget” when you want to run for governor again, as in, we aren’t going to go to bat for you and will keep our options open. It pisses me off because it just seems like punishing a politician who is as corrupt as Adams so evidently is should be supported by everyone. But then, if that were the case, we wouldn’t now have Trump. For God’s sake Hochul, just do the right thing and trust that voters don’t like nakedly corrupt politicians.
Barbara
@prostratedragon: But white Beelzebubs have been removed. Cuomo and Spitzer resigned.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Belafon:
This isn’t surprising to me. Denver’s previous, black mayor, was widely seen over his last two terms, particularly the last one, as being an entirely corrupt tool. Not as obvious as Adams but if anybody had wanted to dig hard enough, probably criminal in several areas.
Probably the only reason he got a third term was how our crappy jungle primary system always seems to spit out the two worst candidates to choose from in the end and his opponent was an entitled, white lady with her own dubious track record and no political experience. Most of us went with poking our right eye out instead of our left eye when it came to voting.
But, if there had been any attempt at a recall (we don’t have a removal process), it would have been squashed because of the optics of removing a black politician in a city that was 69% white. Better to let elections settle things than something outside of that is the main message in this.
MobiusKlein
I’m always bemused how soft some people are. Afraid to take public transportation, like it’s some Escape From New York movie.
More that it’s boring. Babies
suzanne
I would love to learn more about this. What’s the reasoning?
Betty Cracker
From the letter:
Well, TRUMP is effectively running the city since his orange fist is jammed up the sitting mayor’s ass, so good luck with that.
Leto
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
See Trumpov v Harris as the primary source for this. I get the optics of this, but it just feeds into the “both sides” bullshit. But that’s the world we live in and I guess I need to accept that. Fuck those core values.
Geminid
@Alce _e_ardillo: I think the critical date there is March 26. That’s within 90 days of the June primary. I think the rule in New York is that if Adams is removed before then, there would have to be a special election to fill Adams’s post which Cuomo would likely win. That would definitely give him an advantage in the primary.
prostratedragon
@Barbara: And if they hadn’t?
prostratedragon
@MobiusKlein: The “movie” is boring, or public transportation is? Returning to it after driving for several years reminded me how fascinating I find it, and convinced me that everyone driving everywhere is the beginning of mass disengagement. Fear, too, I guess.
Suzanne
@Leto:
Agree. I don’t have a position on whether or not it’s better to fire Adams or hope that the voters get rid of him….. but the idea that it is less bad to keep someone criminally corrupt in office is unquestionably a rough thing, and absolutely stokes cynicism.
@mistermix.bsky.social
@suzanne: Williams is a progressive. He ran in the primary for governor in 2022 against Hochul, and was endorsed by the Working Families Party (basically the left wing of New York’s Democratic Party — they usually endorse the Democrat who’s running but in this case they didn’t). He’s also endorsed by the DSA.
IOW not part of the Jeffries/Meeks machine / power bloc, which those people writing the letter are. They supported Hochul, but Williams did OK in some of the precincts in the NYC area, and that’s a big threat to them.
This is part of the kind of machine politics you see in blue urban areas in New York State — we had it in the City of Rochester, too. We had a corrupt black mayor, Lovely Warren, that was backed to the hilt by the coalition who supported her (the Gantt machine). Now there’s a different black mayor (Malik Evans) who’s from a different power bloc/machine. And, of course, Warren and her allies claimed that the prosecution of her blatant corruption was racially motivated.
Captain C
@Betty Cracker:
Well yes, he’s consistently corrupt, weird, and self-promoting, but I fail to see how this helps NYC or any of its communities.
Gloria DryGarden
@Betty Cracker: so grumpy mr ketchup got kicked out of New York, and he found a way to get his foot back in the door. Or his fist, as the case may be.
Citizen_X
“Never mind the charges, let the people decide in the election” is what we were told about Trump. And guess what? Now we’re ruled by a criminal!
Fuck Adams. Do the right thing.
A Ghost to Most
You gotta love take-no-shit Democrats. More, please.
Urza
Why is Jumaane Williams a bad option?
Suzanne
@@mistermix.bsky.social: Thanks for the background.
glory b
@@mistermix.bsky.social: DSA and Justice Dems want to remove the traditional black power base.
Chances are good Williams wouldn’t win, he’d be another Maya Wiley, who black voters saw as too left.
In spite of what you hear on this blog, it doesn’t seem to the direction Dems want to go.
But the vast majority of black voters are much more in the middle than a lot of folks believe. That’s the reason for the dust up in Alabama, black party officials said the leftie/progressives were trying to weaken the power of the black vote.
More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in Past
glory b
@Urza: Black people see him as another Maya Wiley, who would give Cuomo another shot to get the mayor’s office. Remember, they have the jungle primary system, Adams won with only about 35% of the vote.
Barbara
@prostratedragon: I assume you are implying that no one would have forced them. To be honest, I don’t know. I think Spitzer would have been forced because there was an active federal indictment. In my view, Cuomo resigned so he could live to fight another day in the political sphere. I agree that it’s unlikely he would have been forced out. Among other things he had gone out of his way to engineer the New York legislature to maximize his own power and deny his own party the opportunity to enact or champion any policy he didn’t support.
All I can say is that the Adams situation is different because he is so clearly being used as a puppet to a president that almost no one in NYC supports, least of all the “community” these individuals allegedly speak for. Basically, do what I say or you will be indicted again as soon as next week. In effect, Trump is the mayor in any meaningful way, not Adams. That wasn’t true with any previous politician, black or white.
Alce _e_ardillo
@Geminid: Exactly.
Urza
@glory b: Really need ranked choice everywhere
Geminid
@glory b: You may have meant New York has Ranked-choice voting. That was tried out for first time in the primary that Adams won.
California, Washington and Louisiana have “jungle primaries. That’s where all candidates run in a primary and the top two two advance to a runoff in November. California and Washington adopted this system earlier this century, while Louisiana’s had it for a while
Ed. Alaska adopted a hybrid system recently. They hold an all-comer, jungle primary, and then the top four finishers advance to a Ranked-choice runoff
Alce _e_ardillo
@Captain C: And which communities of color? Asian? Latino? South Asian?
Geminid
@Urza: I think we really need jurisdictions like New York City and Maine try out Ranked-choice voting some more, so we can see how it works in practice.
satby
@glory b: The track record on another DSA mayor is pretty abysmal too. My son, a lifelong Democrat, really thinks he’s inept:
MobiusKlein
@prostratedragon: Riding on public transit is boring. Caltrain ( SF -> San Jose) takes forever.
Served
@satby: Johnson has been a fiasco, but the choice between him and his opponent in the runoff, Paul Vallas, was easy to make.
The real fallout from this is going to be the Chicago Teachers Union completely obliterating their electoral power by backing him and pushing through some disastrous decisions through him.
EDIT: And his worst decisions have nothing to do with DSA, but everything to do with machine politics, like only appointing pastors to critical positions.
jefft452
‘Eight Black state legislators ask Hochul not to remove Adams – “our communities will never forget it” if she does’
I have a feeling that their communities wouldnt care those 8 were removed also
@mistermix.bsky.social
@glory b:
I doubt Williams would win, but blocking the removal of Adams because Williams will be the mayor until a special election is short sighted. Black politicians who choose corrupt leaders to advance their power will end up losing that power. We saw it in Rochester.
Old Man Shadow
Irony still has a sense of humor in making Hochul a firebrand leader of the resistance, even if it’s only temporary.
jefft452
@glory b: “But the vast majority of black voters are much more in the middle than a lot of folks believe.”
Adams is not “in the middle”
rebelsdad
Living with my father and racist MAGAt uncle right now. He (uncle) knows I’m a proud Dem and often tries to bait me into discussing politics with him. I always refuse- pearls before swine and all that. Last night he asked me my opinion of the whole Gulf of Mexico fiasco and I said “I don’t want to discuss it.” He didn’t like this of course but respected my decision.
Getting my own place soon!
Also, fuck Eric Adams.
satby
@Served: I think my son would second your assessment.
jefft452
@Alce _e_ardillo: Orange people
Darkrose
@prostratedragon: Adams did well with Black voters, because he positioned himself as “one of us”. Specifically, he pointed to his stint in the NYPD, when the higher-ups hated him for calling out racism in the department, Was it ultimately all about Adams getting attention for himself? Absolutely! But he did have a reputation as a reformer who was attacked by the white establishment, and he traded on that when he ran for mayor.
For those who are confused about why Black New Yorkers would support Adams, search “Marion Barry”. TL;DR: He was a horrible person, but he was successful at positioning himself as a Black man being attacked by white outsiders, and was able to get re-elected mayor despite being literally arrested using crack on camera (and blaming a Black woman for it).
WTFGhost
Help me out here: no matter what happens, millions of New Yorkers will ride the subways, right? With more riders due to congestion pricing, they can make the subways cleaner, safer, and more comfortable, right? More frequent trains, less constant standing, more room for the disabled (like me, the guy you don’t think is disabled, because he doesn’t *look* disabled, and tries not to be singled out as a possible victim, so he doesn’t act disabled….
I remember a friend expressing how, when getting on a bus, she needed to glare at all the people in the “handicapped seating” *with* her dual canes, and say “I need a seat, one of you must get up.” Today, in my mid 50s, I consider her brave, in her teens-and-20s.
In a healthy society, *just that* wouldn’t be an issue, and I’ll bet you, in Canada, you’d see every single effer in a handicapped row seat would get up, and some might even *argue* (in a quiet, polite manner) about who gets to give up *their* seat, because, goddamn it, they *care* about people up there.
JML
@Darkrose: there’s also a lot of black voters who respond to law & order candidates as well, especially when it’s coming from one of their own. They want someone cracking down on drug dealers and doing sweeps on sex workers in their neighborhoods. (they obviously aren’t interested in the Bull Conner types, but safe communities pitches are common from black candidates and there’s a reason why.)
Adams is a corrupt s!tbag and needs to go, but I can understand the complicated politics around all of it. And for all that NYC is seen as a liberal hotbed, look at who they’ve elected as Mayor post WWII. lots of republicans and conservative dems in there…
John S.
@WTFGhost:
Effective public transportation is awesome. When I was in Seoul with my daughter last year, we rode the subways and trains there exclusively. I would never even think to drive a car there.
WTFGhost
@Darkrose: Also, when you have few heroes, and the heroes you *do* have are immediately attacked for being “crackheads” for being rational, justice-minded, racially-sensitive Democrats, you shut “crackhead” and “pedophile” and “criminal” and “eater of unbaptized babies” out of your head.
Remember: “we” BJ folk tend to be a lot more politically educated than ordinary folks. We could have told people that Trump would make ham-fisted cuts because he’s too lazy and stupid to do anything else. No one believed us! Well… no one had to believe stories of Adams either.
Post-truth worlds are not easy to live in.
WTFGhost
@John S.: agreed; I grew up in Philly, and in the more permissive days, I was allowed to take the bus to the LIBRARY at the age of 13. I grew up imagining that everything was fine and dandy with public transit (and I didn’t recognize my positive TB test as “public transit related, most likely” – negative X-ray, if anyone’s interested). The idea that you might have to wait 30-40 minutes for a GD *BUS* seems foreign to me, except, you know, really late at night, when the busses run slow. But you know they are *running*. In Philly, at least.
The Audacity of Krope
Money is the root of all evil and NYC hosts the center of all money. Just saying’.
Geminid
@Served: I don’t think the DSA is much of a force in Chicago. Their New York chapter swings some weight.
Jumaine Williams and Mayor Johnson are likely not DSA members, or “cadre candidates” in DSA parlance. They just accepted DSA endorsements.
prostratedragon
@MobiusKlein: But there are people there!
prostratedragon
@Barbara: Oh I’d love to see him gone, and the puppet thing is only the capstone of why. But there might need to be some painful (leopards, etc.) laying of groundwork first. The governor’s new feistiness might help some there.
randy khan
I don’t know what Goldman is thinking. Of course we want to trumpet that Trump is calling himself a king, and use it to talk about how arbitrary and lawless his actions are.
LAC
@Darkrose: To be fair, that is not how Barry started out and in better times he provided programs that helped at risk youth with jobs, etc. Those programs stuck with his constituents and made his fall from grace very sad. Living in DC then with no home rule and a hostile federal government overseer , Barry was seen as a warrior for “chocolate city”.
The more you know ( shooting stars….)
Sigh….
kindness
Hochul must be smoking better stuff than I have if she thinks she has any chance of winning the next election for gov.
WTFGhost
@kindness: If you’re in Washington, I know some good dispensar… oh, you’re not looking for good smoke. Damn. Nice nym, BTW.
The Truffle
@jefft452: Which legislators?
Marcopolo
Just wanted to note that Fox had Habbaba (sp?) on to talk about Trump ending congestion pricing w/out noting that her husband owns & operates parking garages in Manhattan. No conflict of interest there, right? Here’s the clip, the context is provided in the replies.
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3limiyqajfa2h
Also, in addition to the D est worries about Williams becoming mayor I’ve also seen folks opining that getting rid of Adams might open the door/increase the likelihood that Andrew Cuomo winds up in that office. Hadn’t seen anyone mention it in the comments but there’s probably some justification to that worry.
Geminid
@Marcopolo: My understanding is that if Adams is removed more than 90 days before the June primary there has to be a special election to fill his post. I think March 26 is the operative date.
Andrew Cuomo would have the advantage in a special election by virtue of his name recognition. And if he won, Cuomo would contest the June primary as the incumbent, which would be another advantage.
So this is one reason Hochul and other Democrats might want to slow walk removing Adams.
Now, I’m watching this race from three hundred miles away but I pay attention. I also follow Westchester Democrat Tom Watson on social media. He’s on BlueSky as well as the Other Site, and seems like an attentive observer of City politics.
Watson favors Hochul removing Adams. He has not come out for Cuomo but even before this latest controversy, Watson pretty clearly thought that Cuomo will win if he runs in the June primary.
He did not seem too bothered by that either. But I guess we’ll get to see what City voters think, because Cuomo looks like he’s running.
Geminid
@The Truffle: The eight legislators are listed towards the end of the post.
davek319
@Belafon: Where were all these machine mouthpieces with the OPTICS! threats when David Paterson was driven to resign? He only tried to hide an aide’s sexual harassment, iirc. Crisesake, for the GOP, that’s just a day ending in y. They step right on Hochul because she’s a squish and a Dem, but I repeat myself. When Shitler Trumpf cancels Black History Month, why bless their hearts, these big brave public folks just shtum right the fuck up and quiver. C’mon! Hakeem Jeffries? Nobody listens to him at all. Ya think Mike Johnson loses sleep over Sonorous Mouth Noises Jeffries? Sheeeit.