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jumaane williams
Order to Drop Charges Against NYC Mayor Among 'Most Openly Corrupt Writings I've Seen on DOJ Letterhead'
"It's official: Eric Adams' shameless campaign to avoid legal accountability for corruption has succeeded," said one member of the New York State Assembly.
Feb 11, 2025
New York officials, lawmakers, and activists expressed fury on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's Justice Department instructed prosecutors to drop federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a move seen as an overtly corrupt deal aimed at giving the White House free rein to attack the city's immigrant communities.
In a letter sent on Monday, the Trump Justice Department instructed federal prosecutors to "dismiss the pending charges" against Adams, which include several counts of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
The letter, sent by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, states that the Justice Department reached its decision to call for an end to the case against Adams "without assessing the strength of the evidence or legal theories on which the case is based."
Instead, the Justice Department claimed the pending prosecution of Adams "unduly restricted" his "ability to devote full attention and resources" to cooperating with the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda. Attorney Luppe B. Luppen called the letter "one of the most openly corrupt writings I've seen on DOJ letterhead," adding that "it's comically, transparently a political favor, and the quid pro quo is utterly explicit."
Jumaane Williams, New York City's public advocate, said in a statement Tuesday that the Justice Department's directive shows Adams "adopted a strategy of selling out marginalized New Yorkers and our city's values to avoid personal and legal accountability."
"The mayor has always had the presumption of innocence—something he has rarely extended to the New Yorkers he's detained on Rikers pre-trial, or wanted deported based on accusations," Williams continued. "He said he wanted his day in court, but instead sidestepped that system using the privilege and power that so few people have access to. This is obscene and obvious—the White House doesn't want to lose their deputy in New York City."
"Eric Adams sold out New Yorkers to buy his own freedom, but he'll never escape the label of worst mayor in NYC history."
The DOJ's directive came in the wake of reports that Adams ordered top New York City officials to refrain from criticizing Trump or interfering with his mass deportation efforts. According to the local independent news outlet The City, Adams instructed his commissioners "to not be critical of the president or federal government on social media" and to "stop complaining about President Trump and move on because he was elected."
"The mayor has said he won't publicly criticize the president and has refused to criticize Trump's statements or actions when pressed by reporters," The City reported. "Trump said in December he would 'look at' potentially pardoning Adams, whose federal corruption trial is set to begin in April. It's fueled speculation that the mayor is acting chiefly to obtain a pardon or dropped charges from the president, even as Trump threatened to withhold crucial funding from the city."
New York State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani (D-36), who is running in the 2025 New York City mayoral race,
said in response to the Trump DOJ's directive that "it's official: Eric Adams' shameless campaign to avoid legal accountability for corruption has succeeded."
"In the midst of a right-wing billionaire assault on the working class of our city, he sold us out for another personal favor," said Mamdani. "Election Day can't come soon enough."
People hold up a sign as Mayor Eric Adams speaks during the New York Public Library on January 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Politico noted Monday that the DOJ's order "continues an emerging pattern of the administration of President Donald Trump dropping politically charged criminal cases he inherited when resuming the White House last month." The outlet added that it's an "open question" whether Dale Ho, the judge presiding over the Adams case, has any power to resist the Trump administration's push to drop the charges.
"While some legal experts said Ho's hands are tied," Politico observed, "others believe he could outright refuse."
New York State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-13) wrote late Monday that "Eric Adams sold out New Yorkers to buy his own freedom, but he'll never escape the label of worst mayor in NYC history."
"Donald Trump may think this buys him access to terrorize our communities," Ramos added, "but New Yorkers always stand up for one another, no matter how many corrupt narcissists try to hurt our families."
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'New Yorkers Deserve Better': Mayor Adams Urged to Resign as Feds Unseal Indictment
"Mayor Eric Adams can no longer govern. He has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve," said the New York Working Families Party.
Sep 26, 2024
Update:
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed a 57-page indictment charging New York City Mayor Eric Adams with wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
The indictment states that Adams "sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him."
"As Adams' prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City's mayor," the document continues. "Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received."
Speaking at a press conference after the indictment was unsealed, Adams called it an "unfortunate" and "painful" day for him but rejected calls to resign and said, "I look forward to defending myself."
"From here my attorneys will take care of the case, so I can take care of the city," Adams said. "My day-to-day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do."
Earlier:
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced mounting calls to resign as federal agents raided his official residence in Manhattan early Thursday morning following news that he was indicted in a corruption probe.
Adams, who was
under federal investigation for allegedly conspiring with the Turkish government in 2021 to receive unlawful campaign donations, said he would fight the indictment, which remained sealed Thursday morning. Adams is now the first sitting New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime.
News of the federal grand jury indictment sparked a new flurry of calls for Adams' resignation from New York lawmakers and advocacy groups.
"Mayor Eric Adams can no longer govern," the New York Working Families Party said in a statement. "He has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve. Our city deserves a leader we can trust and who is not engulfed in endless scandals."
In an appearance on Democracy Now! Thursday morning, New York City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán said that "New Yorkers deserve better."
"We need somebody who can take this job seriously," Cabán added, "and [Adams] can no longer do that."
Should Adams ultimately resign or be forced out of office, the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would become mayor.
Tiffany Cabán was the first New York City councilmember to call on Mayor Eric Adams to resign as he faces several federal investigations.
"New Yorkers deserve better,” says @tiffany_caban. “We need somebody who can take this job seriously … and he can no longer do that." pic.twitter.com/da9ctlaoxX
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) September 26, 2024
Chi Ossé, also a member of the New York City Council, called Adams—a former police officer—a "corrupt cop" who "needs to resign."
"This started as a corruption probe into his campaign and now half of the leadership is out of commission," Ossé added. "I'm not going to lie, they look guilty."
News of the Adams indictment came three weeks after the FBIraided the homes and seized the phones of top Adams aides.
The New York Times reported Thursday that "federal prosecutors investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations into his campaign have recently sought information about interactions with five other countries."
"The demand for information related to the other countries—Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan—was made in expansive grand jury subpoenas issued in July to City Hall, the mayor, and his campaign," the Times noted, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.
Adams attorney Alex Spiro on Thursday accused federal agents of staging a "spectacle" by raiding the mayor's residence.
"He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court," said Spiro. "They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in."
Shortly before news of the indictment broke, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote that she doesn't "see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City."
"The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov[ernment] function," she added. "Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign."
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'Wrong Side of History': NYC Mayor Adams Vetoes Solitary Confinement Ban
"With this veto, the mayor has condemned New Yorkers to suffer in solitary confinement and isolation, and he did so after the cameras were turned off and backs were turned," the bill's sponsor said.
Jan 20, 2024
New York City Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a New York City Council bill on Friday that would have banned the practice of solitary confinement in city jails.
Also on Friday, Adams vetoed another bill that would have increased transparency and oversight of the New York Police Department (NYPD). However, both bills passed the council with more votes than is required to override a veto.
"To recap: Police transparency is good. Solitary confinement is bad. And Mayor Adams is committed to manufacturing controversy where there is none," Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso wrote on social media in response to the news. "The Mayor shouldn't be spending time sowing dissent on veto-proof bills that will pass regardless of his actions today."
"Solitary confinement is torture. It often results in lasting psychological damage, and undermines public safety both inside and outside New York City's jails."
Solitary confinement is an increasingly controversial practice that has been recognized as torture by the United Nations and human rights groups if it lasts for more than 15 days in a row, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. Its use at New York's Rikers Island has been linked to at least two recent deaths: Layleen Polanco Xtravaganza, who died after having a seizure while in solitary in 2019 and Kalief Browder, who took his own life after being placed in solitary confinement for two years.
"Solitary confinement is inhumane, and its presence in our city is indefensible," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who sponsored the legislation, said ahead of its passage last month. "Committing an infraction in jail can cause you to lose privileges, not basic human rights. People in solitary are isolated, denied human contact and connection, denied support, and come out of these deplorable conditions worse than when they went in—and some don't come out at all."
The bill, 549A, would have required that everyone in jail in New York City be allowed to gather with other inmates for at least 14 hours every day, except during emergency lock-ins or to deescalate conflict, ABC News reported. In those cases, inmates could only be confined for up to four hours.
Adams announced the veto by press release, and not during an earlier press conference when he announced his veto of the police transparency measure, as New York Magazine reported.
"Our administration does not support solitary confinement in our jails, and New York City has not used the practice for years. In fact, we have achieved significant reductions in key indicators of violence in our correction system without solitary confinement," Adams said in a statement. "But despite the misleading nickname, had [the bill] taken effect, the Department of Correction would no longer be able to protect people in custody, or the union workers charged with their safety, from violent individuals. I implore the City Council to work with our administration and follow the federal monitor's guidance to abandon this misguided bill."
Williams criticized the mayor's decision.
"With this veto, the mayor has condemned New Yorkers to suffer in solitary confinement and isolation, and he did so after the cameras were turned off and backs were turned. It's cowardly, weak, shameful, and entirely expected from this version of this mayor," Williams said in a statement.
"I don't think there's a single person in the city outside the mayor's office who thinks the status quo on Rikers right now is good and effective," Williams continued. "The ongoing use of solitary confinement and isolation in New York City—no matter what the administration calls it—is indefensible, and vetoing the ban is inexcusable."
Other city council members and rights groups spoke out against the mayor's action.
Speaker Adrienne Adams and Criminal Justice Chair Sandy Nurse promised to "take the steps to enact this law over the Mayor's veto." The measure passed 39-7, and an override requires 34 votes.
"The Council passed Intro. 549-A to ban solitary confinement with more than a veto-proof majority because it is imperative to make the city's jails safer for those who are detained and staff alike," Adams and Nurse said. "We cannot allow the human rights and safety crisis on Rikers to continue by maintaining the status quo of failed policies and practices."
The #HALTsolitary Campaign thanked Adams and Nurse for promising to override the mayor's veto.
"He's on the wrong side of history, human rights, and public safety," the group, which is led by impacted New Yorkers, posted on social media.
The NYCL also encouraged the city council to pass the legislation.
"Solitary confinement is torture," the group wrote on social media. "It often results in lasting psychological damage, and undermines public safety both inside and outside New York City's jails."
Council members and rights groups also criticized Adams' veto of the NYPD transparency measure—5862A or the "How Many Stops Act,"—which passed by a 35-9 margin.
"The Mayor's veto betrays his stated goal of public safety and harms the Black and Latino communities that bear the brunt of these stops."
This bill would have mandated that New York police officers report on civilian stops and searchers and give more detailed information about vehicle stops and searchers, ABC News explained.
In justifying his veto, Adams said that while the legislation "has good intentions behind it, the bill is misguided and compromises our public safety."
"Our administration supports efforts to make law enforcement more transparent, more just, and more accountable, but this bill will handcuff our police by drowning officers in unnecessary paperwork that will saddle taxpayers with tens of millions of dollars in additional NYPD overtime each year, while simultaneously taking officers away from policing our streets and engaging with the community," he said.
In response, Council Speaker Adams said the council was "prepared to override this veto," issuing a joint statement with Public Safety Chair Yusef Salaam.
"The false narrative that we cannot have transparency is bad for our city, and belies the fact that accountability is vital to improving public safety by increasing trust," Adams and Salaam said. "The Mayor's veto betrays his stated goal of public safety and harms the Black and Latino communities that bear the brunt of these stops."
The NYCLU wrote on social media: "The mayor's veto leaves another stain on an administration that has been winding back checks on hyper-aggressive, biased, and unaccountable policing. We are confident the city council will heed the call of impacted New Yorkers and advocates and override the Mayor's veto."
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Ocasio-Cortez, NY State Progressives Call on Cuomo to Pass Billionaires' Tax to Support Immigrants Left Out of Covid-19 Relief
"For so long we've been bailing out corporations. Covid has shown us that the most vulnerable people in our community, they too deserve to be bailed out."
Jul 16, 2020
Progressive lawmakers in New York on Thursday demanded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo impose a tax on the states' billionaires in order to support immigrant workers who have been excluded from relief measures.
As U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) explained in a video released by the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition Thursday, the state is home to 118 billionaires whose wealth has exploded since the pandemic began in March, amassing a collective $556 billion net worth while millions of New Yorkers struggle to pay their rent and afford other necessities.
"For so long we've been bailing out corporations," said state Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa, who represents Upper Manhattan. "Covid has shown us that the most vulnerable people in our community, they too deserve to be bailed out."
Watch:
Ocasio-Cortez and De La Rosa were joined in the video by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, and state Sen. Jessica Ramos, who sponsored a bill to tax billionaires. The Billionaire Mark to Market Tax Act (S8277) is currently in committee.
"The worker bailout that I'm proposing does two things," Ramos said in the video. "It imposes a tax on the unrealized capital gains of billionaires, and we take that money to fund a bailout for workers that were left out of salary subsidy programs."
Jamaal Bowman, who won the Democratic primary in New York's 16th congressional district last month and is expected to win the general election, expressed his support for the campaign.
In the video, the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition spoke with several immigrants in New York who have been ineligible for unemployment insurance during the pandemic--even as 74% of the immigrants of color surveyed by the group reported job loss--or for the $1,200 direct payment sent to some Americans.
"The millionaires and the rich people of the world should pay what's fair to provide relief for the working class community," said one man interviewed in the video.
The lawmakers took aim at Cuomo, whose proposed budget in April included cuts to Medicaid even as the Covid-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc on New York City and the surrounding area, leaving hospitals and healthcare workers overwhelmed and under-resourced.
At the time, a video of Niou condemning the budget on the state Assembly floor was circulated widely on social media.
"What we need is not the cuts proposed by our governor but strong investments in our infrastructure and the public assets that could have mitigated this crisis had we only been willing to fund them previously," Niou said at the time.
Passing Ramos' billionaires' tax would enable "equitable taxation" in New York State, Williams said in the video Thursday.
"It's frustrating to see a governor who will say, 'I'd rather cut Medicaid, I'd rather force municipalities to cut the school budget, to cut access to the lifelines these communities need,'" said Williams.
"But something like a billionaires' tax, he simply won't entertain."
The tax would help support families "who are facing housing insecurity, food insecurity, and more," Ocasio-Cortez said.
The congresswoman addressed Cuomo directly at the end of the video.
"Gov. Cuomo, we need you to pass a billionaires' tax in order to make sure that we're providing for our working families," she said. "It's time to stop protecting billionaires and it's time to start working for working families."
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'Huge Win for Democracy': Nationwide Celebrations as NYC Residents Approve Ranked-Choice Voting Ballot Measure
With the new system, said one supporter, "candidates will have to knock on the door of not just a certain plurality, but on the diverse doors of NYC's mosaic majority."
Nov 05, 2019
Voting rights advocates celebrated a "huge win for democracy" Tuesday after New Yorkers approved a ballot measure that would establish ranked-choice voting in the nation's most populous city.
"It's been too easy for candidates to ignore marginalized communities, including LGBTQ voters, because they didn't think they needed every vote to win. Ranked-choice voting ends that mindset."
--Rod Townsend, Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC
With 90% reporting as of Wednesday morning, New York City's Ballot Question 1 won approval from 73.5% of voters.
NYC's ranked-choice voting (RCV) measure was supported by a number of advocacy groups, politicians, and even The New York Times editorial board, which called the question the "most exciting proposal" of the five measures considered by city voters Tuesday.
In an RCV system--also known as an instant runoff voting system--voters rank candidates for each office in order of preference on their ballots. If no candidate secures a majority of first-choice votes, an elimination process is triggered and continues until one candidate has majority support.
RCV has been growing in popularity across the United States in recent years. It is used in local and party election in some places around the country and statewide in Maine.
In addition to establishing RCV in primary and special elections for all local offices beginning in 2021, the ballot measure will "increase the time between a city office vacancy and the special election to fill it from 45 days (60 for mayor) to 80 days" and "change the timeline for city council redistricting to complete it prior to city council nominating petition signature collection."
Celebrating the ballot measure's passage on Tuesday night, Common Cause NY executive director Susan Lerner said that RCV "is the simple solution that puts power back in the hands of the people where it belongs. We look forward to working with our diverse partners and elected officials to educate New Yorkers on how this important reform will work in the local 2021 elections and beyond."
The RCV provision garnered support from New Yorkers and national advocates alike. Backers included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)--a widely popular freshman congresswoman who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens--2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate and city resident Andrew Yang, Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.), state Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic state Sen. Julia Salazar, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and actor, activist, and city resident Cynthia Nixon.
The advocacy group FairVote, which fights for fair elections and supports RCV, declared on Twitter: "This is huge for the #RankedChoiceVoting movement!"
Supporters of an RCV system argue that it pushes candidates to focus on engaging voters rather than negative campaigning. FairVote president Rob Richie told Politico, "You've got to be, I think, a better candidate."
"You as a candidate have a lot more reasons to have conversations and engagements with people," he said. "The candidates that run traditional campaigns that involve using money and not using people have not done as well."
Rod Townsend, president of the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC, said in statement ahead of the vote Tuesday that "it's been too easy for candidates to ignore marginalized communities, including LGBTQ voters, because they didn't think they needed every vote to win. Ranked-choice voting ends that mindset because with RCV, every vote matters."
"With ranked-choice voting, marginalized communities will be engaged by every candidate," Townsend added. "Candidates will have to knock on the door of not just a certain plurality, but on the diverse doors of NYC's mosaic majority."
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'Fearless' Progressive Jumaane Williams Elected NYC's Public Advocate
The progressive activist and Brooklyn councilman won election Tuesday with a decisive plurality.
Feb 26, 2019
Jumaane Williams, a progressive activist, is New York City's public advocate-elect.
Williams, a city councilman from Brooklyn, won election as advocate with a plurality of votes on Tuesday, defeating 16 other candidates that included progressive journalist and activist Nomiki Konst and Queens councilman Eric Ulrich. Ulrich was the second place finisher, with 19 percent to Williams's 33 percent.
As advocate, Williams will have control over the office's $3.5 million budget and the power to hold public hearings. Williams will be the only person of color in the top of city government--Mayor Bill De Blasio, acting public advocate Corey Johnson, and comptroller Scott M. Stringer are white men.
The role of public advocate is seen as a stepping stone on the way to higher state office and the advocate replaces the mayor temporarily if the mayor leaves office early. De Blasio himself made the jump in 2013.
Congratulations for Williams on his win came from across the New York progressive spectrum.
Turnout for the special election was low for the city with only around 400,000 New Yorkers casting ballots in the race.
Williams entered the race with a recently elevated public profile after running unsuccessfully against Kathy Hochul for Lt. Governor in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2018, and had the support of prominent progressives in the city including State Senator Julia Salazar and progressive activist and Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout.
The position was vacated at the end of December by newly elected state Attorney General Letitia James. Acting public advocate Johnson congratulated Williams on Twitter and promised a smooth transition.
Due to the timing of James's departure and the next election, Williams could have to face off against unknown challengers in a primary for advocate in June and then again in the general election in November.
It's unclear if there will be much appetite for another free for all race, however, as Williams earned a decisive margin of victory in his plurality win.
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'Sea of Red' as 40,000 Verizon Workers and Allies March Against Greed in New York
Striking employees joined by elected officials—and, briefly, Bernie Sanders—as protests continued into second week
Apr 18, 2016
Verizon workers were joined by city leaders in New York on Monday for the sixth continuous day of their labor strike, with a march that stretched from the Verizon building on West 36th Street to 42nd Street.
An estimated 40,000 workers, elected officials, and other allies marched through Manhattan in "a sea of red" as they called for Verizon executives to settle contract disputes that they say hold tens of thousands of livelihoods in the balance and expressed outrage over the company's plans to outsource labor to the Philippines, Mexico, and other developing countries.
Bernie Sanders made an impromptu visit to the picket line, joining them for the second time since the strike began last week and thanking the workers for standing up to the kind of "corporate greed...that is destroying the American middle class."
Among the city officials participating in the march was City Council Member Jumaane Williams, who also endorsed Sanders for president just a day earlier at a rally in Brooklyn.
"What are we fighting? Corporate greed!" the demonstrators chanted.
One Verizon employee, Jazmin Sypher, a member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), wrote in an op-ed for the Guardian:
Verizon's executives are desperate to stop the tens of thousands of other wireless workers from joining together in our union. By denying most of us collective bargaining, they've been able to worsen our job conditions, and keep our pay low, while they pump up the company's profits higher and higher.
[....] And Verizon has the money to treat us fairly. The company has made $39bn in profits over the past three years. CEO Lowell McAdam got $18m in compensation last year. That's some 300 times more than the average Verizon Wireless worker.
My co-workers and I aren't asking for $18m a year. We'd just like to take care of our families. A big part of the reason I work at Verizon is for my three kids. My oldest, Maya, is nine, and after she was born I wanted to make sure I had a stable job at a solid company. But by the time Kaleb, my youngest, was born six months ago, I saw that Verizon doesn't care much about the stability of its workers and their families.
Also present at Monday's march were NYC Public Advocate Letitia James, Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer, and a handful of state senators and assembly members.
As organizers noted in a press release ahead of the action, Verizon's service quality has "deteriorated to the point that New York State's Public Service Commission has convened a formal hearing to investigate problems across the Empire State," with similar probes taking place in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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