Whether Eric Adams resigns as New York mayor or not, the city’s left will have an opportunity to set the narrative of the mayoral election next year — something it failed to do in 2021.
Mayor Eric Adams talks to the press in New York City on September 26, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images)
The walls have finally closed in on New York City mayor Eric Adams. A five-count federal indictment against Adams, a former police officer who promised to be tough on crime while reforming the police department, is filled with allegations that he received money and luxurious travel from Turkish officials in exchange for favors. The mayor currently faces at least four federal investigations into various kinds of corruption.
The indictment wasn’t totally a shock to New Yorkers — several of his top staff have already resigned. Will he? We don’t know. He remains defiant, as can be seen in the raucous press conference he held with supporters this morning that was occasionally drowned out by protesters calling for him to resign.
Whether he does or not, one thing is clear: New York City’s broad left will have an opportunity to set the narrative of the mayoral election next year, something it failed to do in 2021.
How did New York City end up with Adams, someone who has attacked funding for libraries, schools, and childcare and enabled rent increases for tenants in rent-stabilized housing? A big part of the answer is that the New York City left, which has elected candidates at the federal, state, and local levels, didn’t mobilize adequately for a solidly progressive candidate in 2021. Former Bill de Blasio administration official Maya Wiley had the backing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), but she failed to build real name recognition. Dianne Morales seemed like a solid progressive until allegations of staff abuse came to light.
The New York City left in 2021 was distracted by other crucial work. It spent much of its energy on the essential task of building up candidates for the state legislature and city council. That work was successful: eight socialists now occupy the state legislature (and a ninth will soon be joining them) and two hold seats in city council. But there wasn’t much planning put into the Democratic mayoral primary, leaving someone like Adams, a machine hack, able to move forward without much left-wing resistance.
The Left should act now to organize for a special election in case Adams resigns and a primary next year. Even if Adams doesn’t resign, he is vulnerable and could be pushed out of office. The Left should play a key role in this moment and should start now.
As comptroller, mayoral candidate Brad Lander is the city’s second-highest citywide elected official and has used the position to be highly critical of the mayor. He has also advanced workers’ rights and overseen investments in affordable housing.
Also in the race is State Senator Jessica Ramos, who is chair of the Senate labor committee and close to the city’s unions (and, full disclosure, my former coworker at Social Service Employees Union Local 371). While she is not backed by New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), she has worked with her socialist colleagues on a variety of measures including fighting to protect sex workers. She was also a part of a wave of reform challengers in 2021 who helped oust a group of conservative Democratic incumbents who caucused with Republicans, keeping the body in GOP control. Her victory helped not only bring more progressivism to the Senate and hand it back to the Democrats, but she was part of a movement of local, grassroots activism that succeeded in tandem with the movement that began electing socialists like AOC and State Senator Julia Salazar to the state senate.
Lander has a few things in his favor. He’s a citywide official, which means he already has a citywide electoral ground game and name recognition. Both he and Ramos have close ties to labor unions, but she would also raise excitement at the prospect of her being the first Latina and first woman to be elected mayor. Lander is a white man running to replace a black man.
Then there is DSA-backed assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who has been outspoken on affordable housing and a range of other issues the Left cares about. He would be the obvious pick for socialists, though he would have trouble against these two bigger names. He has not declared his candidacy, but significant discussion about it has emerged in leftist circles in the city, and his presence in the race could keep the socialist agenda in the narrative and thus pull the race’s center of gravity leftward.
There is something refreshing about all three of these candidates: all of them have, in some way or another, spoken in favor of the rights of Palestinians. Adams has been a vocal partisan for Israel, with reporting showing that he buckled to donor pressure to clamp down on anti-genocide protests earlier this year. Palestine is often called the “third rail” of politics, and many ambitious politicians equivocate and avoid the subject, sticking to local issues to avoid the wrath of the Israel lobby. Their background on this subject is beginning to make space for people to be unafraid of this important subject. The Left should lobby all of these candidates now to move the dial left on labor contracts, housing rights, investments in schools, and more social spending overall.
With the news of Adams’s indictment, the prospect of New York City turning the page on the mayor’s cartoonish corruption and brutal austerity is on the table. But only if the Left and progressive movement of the city take advantage of the moment.