Council Speaker Adams ups heat in City Hall power struggle with proposed new charter commission

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams plans to present a measure nether which the City Council would motorboat its ain charter revision committee to reappraisal and amended the city’s governing papers successful the latest determination pointing to an ongoing a powerfulness conflict betwixt the talker and the mayor, the Daily News has learned. 

The proposal, to beryllium formally introduced Wednesday, stands successful opposition to Mayor Adams’ arguable commission this past summer, according to a release. That program goes earlier voters successful aboriginal November.

The talker said successful a connection that it was important to acceptable a caller modular aft the mayor’s committee “undermined norms of bully governance.”

“I look guardant to uniting each stakeholders and New Yorkers to beforehand a process that prioritizes strengthening our metropolis alternatively than governmental gamesmanship,” Speaker Adams said successful a statement. “The past respective months person negatively impacted nationalist spot successful metropolis authorities and it is indispensable for america to rebuild that captious enslaved with New Yorkers.”

The announcement marks different section successful an ongoing tug-of-war betwixt the mayor and the assembly person implicit the equilibrium implicit powerfulness successful City Hall.

In a situation to the mayor’s quality to marque appointments without assembly approval, Adams past Spring introduced a bill that would let the assembly to grow its quality to artifact hires for apical authorities posts.

Shortly aft that, the politician launched a Charter Revision Commission aiming astatine putting caller ballot initiatives earlier voters. Many crticized that arsenic an effort astatine blocking the advice-and-consent legislation, which the politician has denied. The mayor’s projected changes meant the council’s caller instrumentality would beryllium delayed successful getting connected the ballot.

Louis Cholden-Brown, who served arsenic erstwhile Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s apical lawyer, said Speaker Adams’ latest determination is an assertion of the council’s governmental powerfulness — but that it seems similar a “blunt sword” to usage for that purpose, since a charter revision is simply a broad, lengthy process.

“It perchance takes longer, is taxable to much vagaries and idiosyncrasies, and whitethorn oregon whitethorn not, beryllium what the Council precisely wants,” Cholden-Brown said.

New York City Council members are pictured during a fund proceeding successful the City Council Chamber astatine City Hall connected Monday March 4, 2024. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)

Afetr its formtion, Adams’ committee came nether fire for its unusually choky timeline and for being populated with medication allies.

The charter is the city’s defining document, determining the powers and limits of the politician and City Council. Changes to it are suggested by commissions and presented connected the ballot to beryllium approved oregon denied by voters. 

The council’s sheet would person up to 17 members, with a bulk appointed by the talker with the mayor, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and each of the borough presidents besides appointing members, and conscionable for astir a year, according to a transcript of the measure obtained by The News. This commission’s decisions could look connected the 2025 ballot for voters to determine on.

The measure comes arsenic Adams, who is up for re-election successful the spring, was charged past month with bribery, ligament fraud and secretly soliciting run contributions from overseas donors. He has peladed not gulity and is present moving to reconstruct assurance successful his administration, with respective embattled high-level officials leaving his medication successful caller weeks.