NYC NOW - NYC Now Explains: How the Adams Administration Fell into Chaos

Episode Date: March 22, 2025

Welcome to our new weekend series! Over the next few Saturdays, host Janae Pierre and a cast of WNYC reporters will take a deep dive into the chaos that has consumed the Adams Administration. For months now, the mayor has been at the mercy of colliding political powers — caught between his base of Democratic voters, federal prosecutors, a governor with the power to remove him from office, and, of course, President Trump. We explain how we got to this moment and dig into what’s at stake for the mayor and the people of New York City. In today’s episode, WNYC City Hall reporter Elizabeth Kim looks at how Mayor Adams forged an unexpected political alliance with the president and how it has reshuffled the race for the next mayor.

Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, rich people. Janay, have you ever heard of the Al Smith dinner? I have. It's that political event that I can't quite afford. Right. So the Al Smith dinner is kind of like a political prom. It's an annual event thrown by the Catholic Church, a very high-end affair. This past year, the tickets cost $5,000 a person. There is this elaborate, multi-course dinner that includes lobster and filet mignon. I'd imagine there were a lot of millionaires in that room, Liz.

And there are also billionaires like John Katsimatidis. He's this Republican who's been attending this event for 25 years. He told me he goes because he wants to, in his words, I wanted to piss with the large dogs. Piss with the large dogs. Piss with the large dogs. I love that. And by large dogs, I'm assuming he means those wealthy, influential figures, the big ballers who shape power in New York City, right? It's a lot of big political players like former mayors.

You had Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio, the current governor, Kathy Hochel. But you also had these titans of industry like billionaire NFL team owners, Robert Kraft and Woody Johnson. But that night, there were two other big dogs there, right, Liz? That's right. The event brought together for the first time, Mayor Adams and now President Trump, two men who exist in very different political worlds. Mayor Adams, I'd like to poke from fun at Eric, but I'm going to be nice. I just want to be nice because I know what it's like to be persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders. We were persecuted, Eric.

I was persecuted and so are you, Eric. So you expect this kind of ribbing, after all, it is a roast. But then Trump takes it a step further. If I have the honor to be elected next month, we're going to see what happens. It's happening so fast. But if I have the honor, I look forward to working together to make this city greater than ever before. We're going to do that. And that moment seemed to be the start of something really unusual.

An alliance between a Democratic. mayor and the soon-to-be Republican president. This is NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. Back in September, Eric Adams became the first sitting mayor in modern New York City history to face a federal indictment. Today we are announcing campaign finance, bribery, and conspiracy charges against Eric Adams,

the mayor of New York City. Prosecutors said for years, he accepted gifts from the Turkish government. things like airline tickets and other travel perks. In return, they said he pressured the FDNY to fast-track the approval of a new Turkish consulate in Manhattan, despite safety concerns. They also accused him of taking illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals, ultimately boosting how much he received in public matching fund.

I always knew that if I stood my ground, all of you, that I would be a target. And a target, I became. Then came a lifeline from the Trump administration. The Justice Department ordered prosecutors to drop the charges, calling them politically motivated. And since, there has been this growing sense among Democrats that Adams and Trump have a mutual interest in testing the limits of the justice system. But at what cost? Mayor Adams, I also want to be very clear. Are you selling out New Yorkers to save yourself from prosecution?

There's no deal, no quipfuel, and I did nothing wrong. Over the next few Saturdays on NYC Now, we'll explain how Mayor Adams has wound up at the mercy of intersecting political powers, caught between its base of Democratic voters, federal judges and prosecutors, a governor with the power to remove him from office, and, of course, President Trump. And we'll dig into what's at stake for the people of New York City. In this episode, we'll look at how Eric Adams forged an unexpected political alliance with President Trump and how it's reshuffled the race for the next mayor. WMYC's Elizabeth Kim has covered city politics for years.

Liz, tell us about the political climate that Adams was facing prior to that Al Smith dinner. It really begins with the migrant crisis, which is a major test for Adams. Starting in 2022, New York City starts receiving busloads of migrants, that are sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. It winds up becoming a humanitarian crisis. You have shelters that are overflowing. The city then rents hotels to turn them into emergency housing. And all of it winds up costing the city billions of dollars.

The mayor orders across the board cuts that are broadly unpopular with the public. And it's not long before he decides to openly criticize Biden's administration for not providing enough help. So was there any evidence of that? There's no evidence of that because the investigation into the mayor's campaign began even before Adams won the general election in 2021. But Adams argues that the timing pretty much lines up. Well, yes. In late 2023, that's when the FBI raids the home of Adams' top fundraiser.

It's a woman named Brianna Suggs. They go on to seize the mayor's phones, and they're investigating possible illegal campaign donations. By September 2024, we have the indictment, and we have these various investigations into the mayor's inner circle. Yeah. I remember that it kind of reached a boiling point. It was just two weeks of searches back and forth. Federal agents seizing phones from several of Adams' top officials that much. That's right. So afterwards, you have key top aides, his police commissioner, his school's chancellor, his chief counsel, resigning. And then before the month was out, Adams himself was indicted. And that brings us back to the Al Smith dinner, right, where Trump and Adams meet in the same room. Before that night, there were already whispers that Adams might seek a pardon from.

Trump if he won the presidency. Now, up until then, he dodged those questions, but then, boom, Trump shouts him out at that dinner and starts making jokes. What was the reaction in that room from the people there? For a lot of people, this wasn't just an ordinary Al Smith dinner. This was a chance for Trump to address the elephant in the room. There's something about him with Turkey. I just found that out today, and I haven't been in New York that much.

I don't let it bet you're going to win. Eric. At that point, you have to remember that there are a lot of people in the room who didn't think that Trump was going to win. It was sort of like nervous laughter, I think, that people were like, whoa, wait a minute. Like, is Trump actually saying that, you know, he can empathize with Eric? I spoke to Justin Brannon. He's a Democratic City Council member who was there that night. And he tells me that the moment was striking.

No one was connecting those dots. that many steps ahead. Like, wait a minute, Trump becomes president, and then he tries to pardon Eric. Certainly no one at my table was making those connections. Up next, Mayor Adams extends an olive branch to President-elect Trump, signaling a willingness to collaborate. That's after the break. As we all know, Trump goes on to win the election. Tell us, Liz, what happens after that? This is where Adams' wooing of Trump really begins to escalate, both, in the public and also behind the scenes. The day after the election, he actually shouts out Trump's win.

I want to congratulate President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and wish them all the best as they work to promote the interests of the American people. As mayor of America's largest city, our main team will work with the incoming administration for the good of all New Yorkers. You have to remember, Jeanne, that this is right after the election. Democrats are kind of in this stupor. There are a lot of people in New York City who are anxious about what Trump will do on something like immigration. And the mayor's comments in that moment don't really assuage those concerns. So what does the mayor do?

Well, he flies to Florida and has lunch with Trump. The mayor says they didn't talk about his case, but then he goes on to accept this last-minute invitation to Trump's inauguration. And then we know that Adams' lawyers began having conversations with the Justice Department about his case. So, Liz, if we step back, it seems that these two men actually have a lot in common. It's something that I think about often. They're both New Yorkers, right? They both switch parties. they both talk a pretty big game about law and order,

and they both have faced criminal prosecution. Yeah. What do you make of all of that? They are similar in style. They are these brash, big-talking New Yorkers. They thrive on the fight, combative with the press. Oh, yeah. Adams himself starts leaning into the, quote, fake news rhetoric,

which Trump made famous. And they both have this transactional approach to politics. But it's complicated, right? Because at the end of the day, Adams is still accountable to black voters who are overwhelmingly Democrat and who got him to City Hall. Right. So his embrace of Trump can only go so far. In fact, it proves to be a political liability. How so?

We start seeing this in February when the Justice Department orders prosecutors to drop the charges against Adams. Justice officials moved to dismiss the case without prejudice, which means they weren't making any assessments about the case. And that also meant that prosecutors could still revisit the case and re-indict him later. You know, the memo also mentioned that the mayor was critical to carrying out Trump's immigration policy. So what this order effectively did was give Trump this tremendous. this leverage over the mayor. And the mayor was reminded of this order on a national stage. If he doesn't come through, I'll be back in New York City.

And we won't be sitting on the couch. I'll be in his office up his butt saying where the hell is the agreement we came to. Yikes. Yeah. You remember that clip? That's Trump's Borders are Tom Homan, who appeared on a Fox interview with the mayor. The clip went viral, Jeney. Yeah, I did.

And, you know, he's basically publicly telling the country that Adams owes the Trump administration. But in his defense, Mayor Adams did call it a joke and insisted there was no quick pro quo. That's right, Jenae. But that wasn't the way that moment was received, not by Adams' party and not by many New Yorkers. Weeks after that awkward interview aired, it was referenced several times. during a March 5th hearing in Washington, D.C. with the mayors of sanctuary cities. So let's talk about that hearing, Liz. It wasn't even supposed to be about the charges against Mayor Adams. The Republicans were very complimentary of Adams for cooperating with Tom Holman.

This was really one of the mayor's toughest moments that I can remember. His corruption case and his relationship with Trump were scrutinized for basically, entire day by members of his own party in front of a national audience. Lifelong public servants involved in law enforcement, mind you. This right here is the for-alarm fire that everyone must be paying attention to. Because if it's not just in the mayor's office of New York City, what other city, what other individual, what other municipality leader can be next. So that's Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Liz, what does she mean by this? She's saying that if the Justice Department can have this leverage over Adams, the mayor of the biggest city in the country, then what does it say about the power it has over other elected officials? Because the federal government really does have this massive influence over cities and states. For Democrats like AOC, this is Trump weaponizing the justice system to make a sitting mayor carry out his policies. Is that what's happening here in New York City? The mayor has denied that he's beholden to Trump. He said it during the hearing with AOC and he's said it here

to reporters. But there's no denying that there's been a real shift in the mayor's rhetoric, especially when it comes to immigration, which is where he and Trump's. seem to have found common ground. We see that on the same day that the Justice Department gives the order to drop the corruption charges against the mayor, he actually instructs his top aides not to publicly criticize the Trump administration. Then a few days later, he says he wants to issue an executive order to let federal immigration agents back onto Rikers Island.

This is so that they can detain undocumented immigrants if they're arrested for a crime. But it goes against an existing policy that the city has had, which is based on the constitutional principle of due process. Because people being held at Rikers, including people who are undocumented, haven't been proven guilty. The mayor, though, doesn't actually issue the order. Why not? Did he change his mind? That's unclear, but it reflects a bigger problem for the mayor. Everything he does that overlaps with something that is important to President Trump is going to get scrutinized. And he's become increasingly isolated in his own party.

Top Democrats don't appear to have an appetite to remove him from office right now. But nevertheless, he's being watched. By who, President Trump? Yes, President Trump. but also by his own constituents. He's really walking a fine line here, Jeanne. Think back about his legacy and his political identity. As Brooklyn Borough president, Adams went out of his way to cultivate relationships with immigrant communities.

You know, think about small business owners, you know, taxi drivers. And these also include Muslim New Yorkers who he defended from an. NYPD surveillance after 9-11. These are people who felt politically invisible. And the mayor's campaign message in 2021 was, I see you. Many of them had never been politically active before. He asks them for their trust, for their votes, and he promises them policies that will make them feel valued.

So it seems like the one question that it comes down to is, do voters trust the mayor enough to give him a second term? That's right, because it really does seem like Adams is in the political wilderness. And you can argue that that's actually the worst place for a mayor to be who's seeking re-election. Yeah. So the mayor often likes to say that there has never been a mayor like him. And, you know, this was not the way he intended it to mean, but his mayoralty has been unprecedented. And there have been a lot of unexpected reversals.

This is a man who went from calling himself the future of his party to saying that the party abandoned him. There was this recent press conference that the mayor held where he reflected on his first term as the 110th mayor of New York. My picture's going up in City Hall. And he talks about walking through City Hall at night and looking at the paintings of former mayors. And that includes David Dinkins. That's New York City's first black mayor. My pitcher will be in City Hall. I'm 110.

I mean, that's been the greatest thrill of my life to get here. And that was the meat and potato. Term two is a gravy. I have a full stomach with the meat and potato. I'm going to show New Yorkers why I should be term two. And New Yorkers make the decision. It's important to remember that Dinkins only, served a single term.

You know, and that was something that the mayor knew. It was something that in many ways loomed over his first term. You know, he was only the second black mayor of New York City. And he came into office wanting to do what Dinkins couldn't do. Get a second term, right? That's right. And it wasn't just for him, but it was also for all of the voters that brought him to City Hall. knowing that he was only the second.

So there's a real poignancy to him now talking about his first term as if it's in the past. That's WMYC's Elizabeth Kim. Thanks for listening. Next Saturday, the complicated relationship between Mayor Adams and Governor Kathy Hokel. Keep an eye on your podcast feed for that. Gotta take a moment to shout out the folks from the WNYC Newsroom who made this episode possible. Sean Boutage, Stephen Brown, Stephanie Clary, Audrey Cooper, Maya Hibbitt, Elizabeth Kim, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcel, and Wayne Schoemeister.

I'm Jene Pierre, and this is NYC Now.