What happens if Eric Adams resigns? Can he be forced out?

By Rachel Kahn 

As four separate federal investigations plague Mayor Eric Adams and his administration, progressive politicians such as Councilmember Tiffany Cabán (D-Queens), state Senator Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) have called on him to resign.

Adams has steadfastly said he will not, but there’s also the possibility that he could be forced out.

If he were to leave office under any terms, he would be succeeded by the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, and a special election would be held to elect a new mayor.

How would this all shake out? Here are the basics:

How could Adams leave office?

Adams could either leave office voluntarily or against his wishes. If it’s voluntary, that means resigning.

Only two New York City mayors have ever resigned: Jimmy Walker in 1932, and William O’Dwyer in 1950. 

But the New York City Charter — the code governing the City of New York — has changed in the last 75 years, and if Adams were to leave office today, it would trigger a new process for replacing him that has never been enacted before (more on this below).

Who has the power to remove the mayor?

Gov. Kathy Hochul has the ability to remove New York City’s mayor from office, but the governor’s power to replace New York City’s mayor has never been used. In 2019 and 2020, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced calls to remove then-Mayor Bill de Blasio for campaigning for president and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but did not act on those recommendations. 

The last time that a governor attempted to remove a mayor was in 1932: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the then-governor of New York, began investigating corrupt mayor Jimmy Walker. However, Walker resigned before any official steps to remove him could be taken.

If Hochul wanted to suspend Adams, she would serve him with charges. He would have a chance to defend himself, and she would decide personally whether to remove him.

The second option for removing the mayor is an “inability committee.” 

As laid out in the charter, the committee would be made up of the corporation counsel (an attorney representing the city), the city comptroller (Brad Lander, who is running against Adams for mayor in 2025), the speaker of the City Council (Adrienne Adams), one deputy mayor (selected by the current mayor, in this case Adams) and the borough president who has served the most consecutive years in office (currently Queens Borough President Donovan Richards).

The Charter doesn’t specify how the committee would begin, but once convened, the committee could vote to form a panel of the entire City Council — they’d need at least four out of five members to vote yes. That panel would then vote to declare Adams temporarily or permanently “unable” to “discharge the powers and duties of the office of the mayor,” according to Section 10 of the Charter. To take that step, the Council would need at least two-thirds of its members to vote for removal.

If the mayor were removed via inability committee, the removal would be permanent.

What happens if Adams is indicted? Can he still serve?

Yes. According to election law experts who spoke with THE CITY, even if Adams were indicted, he could continue to serve as mayor unless the governor or the inability committee removed him. 

What happens once he leaves? Who becomes the mayor?

Regardless of whether Adams were to leave office voluntarily or involuntarily, the next steps  would be the same.

When the mayor resigns, the public advocate — in this case Williams — becomes acting mayor. If Williams were somehow unable to act as mayor, then Lander would be next in line.

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What happens if Eric Adams resigns? Can he be forced out? was first posted on September 30, 2024 at 8:40 am.