As Hochul Weighs Removing Mayor Adams, Lt. Gov. Delgado Says He ‘Speaks for New Yorkers’

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has declared his independence from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The lieutenant governor on Thursday became the highest-ranking state official to call for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to step down, as officials throughout government publicly pondered Adams’ fate — and whether Hochul should remove the mayor from office.

“I speak for New Yorkers. That’s how I orient myself: as an independently elected individual,” Delgado said at the State Capitol.

“ I serve with the governor. But I don’t serve at the pleasure of the governor, right? I am my own person. I have my own voice.”

Delgado’s remarks were the clearest articulation yet of his distance from the governor, who has called the latest developments in Adams’s corruption case “extremely concerning and serious” but hasn’t yet sought the mayor’s resignation. Hochul is meeting Tuesday with prominent political leaders to discuss whether Adams can continue to do his job after four top aides said they would leave City Hall.

Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe reiterated Friday that while the governor is reviewing Mayor Adams’s situation, “Lt. Gov. Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”

The exchange marks a sharp break for two officials who became allies and running mates in 2022 after Hochul plucked Delgado from the House of Representatives and appointed him to his current position.

And it comes as some Democrats question whether Hochul is the strongest candidate to lead the party’s ticket in 2026. Delgado declined to answer questions about his future, and whether he would challenge the governor for her job.

“Our relationship is fine,” Delgado said, adding he hadn’t communicated with the governor before he called on Adams to resign. Or in the hours after.

The Democratic mayor has been the center of a political storm that intensified last week, when top officials at the U.S. Department of Justice directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop their corruption case against him.

Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned rather than comply with the directive. In a letter, she said that prosecutors were preparing additional charges against Adams. Sassoon also said the mayor’s lawyers suggested a “quid pro quo” in which he would help the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts if his case were dismissed.

Adams insists he never offered to trade his mayoral authority for an end to his case.

Delgado grew up in Schenectady and was a Rhodes scholar before embarking on a career in corporate law. In 2018, he won a seat in Congress and represented the Hudson Valley until Hochul tapped him to replace Brian Benjamin, her first lieutenant governor, who resigned from the post amid his own corruption scandal. (Benjamin’s charges were dropped last month.)

The job of a lieutenant governor isn’t well defined, but people are usually drafted to the position to support and promote the agenda of the governor, said Bob Duffy, who served in the post for four years under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“ He was the governor. So I always saw it as a supporting role,” Duffy said. “Public disagreement or back and forth — I don’t think it’s a good look.”

While Duffy never stepped out of line, friction between ticket mates isn’t new. Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey clashed with Gov. George Pataki during the 1990s and ended up switching parties to run against him.

She said Delgado was within his rights.

“ Delgado was right to speak out on an issue of such importance to the public,” McCaughey said. “ The role of the lieutenant governor is to serve the public.”

This is the second time in a year that Delgado has bucked Hochul on a public demand for a fellow Democrat to step down. In July, Delgado called for Joe Biden to end his presidential campaign while Hochul said she still supported the incumbent.

It’s unclear whether Delgado’s statement will have any influence over the course of events with Adams. Duffy is skeptical.

“Having been a lieutenant governor in my career,” he said, “I would often say, nobody cares what the lieutenant governor thinks.”

Story by: Jimmy Vielkind, New York Public News Network
Jimmy Vielkind covers how state government and politics affect people throughout New York. He has covered Albany since 2008, most recently as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

Image: Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado is seen in this 2022 file photo. (Credit: Mike Groll/Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office)