Mayor Adams Grabs More Power for Himself at Expense of New Yorkers

MEDIA CONTACT: Kristine Mikkelsen, kmikkelsen@spitfirestrategies.com, 908.304.4869
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, November 5, 2024

New York, NY - Today, in response to ballot proposals 2-5 passing, No Power Grab NYC issued the following statement by spokesperson Mark Winston Griffith.
 
“Mayor Adams used deception & cynicism to con New Yorkers into damaging our city’s system of governance, giving him and future mayors more unchecked power, and creating unprecedented special rights for two of the most opaque agencies in NYC to be able to block accountability for corrupt and violent officers. All of this moves NYC in the wrong direction. He stacked a charter revision commission with his staunchest allies, pushed these dangerous proposals onto the ballot in a matter of weeks with a sham process, constructed each proposal with deceptive and misleading language, snuck them on the ballot at the last-moment, and abused the good will and trust of New Yorkers. He should be ashamed. 
 
“Despite the fact that the mayor stacked the deck against us at every turn, New Yorkers from every background and borough came together in a historic, community-led, grassroots effort to fight back against his dangerous power grab. More New Yorkers voted against these dangerous proposals than the number of NYers who voted for Mayor Adams in 2021. These dangerous measures passed only because this was a high turnout presidential year and too many New Yorkers who hadn't heard about the ballot measures in advance were deceived by the mayor's misleading ballot language. While we’re disappointed in the results, we’re proud of the campaign we ran with our coalition of 60 organizations and 50 elected officials, who came together in record-time to fight back against the mayor’s power grab. The mayor used deceptive and misleading ballot language and cynically banked on the fact that NYC voters generally approve ballot measures. 
 
“This power grab was only possible because of state law that incentivizes power-hungry mayors to weaponize charter revisions for their own interests. State lawmakers must take immediate action to restore checks and balances, remove the mayor’s ability to play politics with our democracy going forward, and put power back into the hands of everyday New Yorkers, where it belongs.”
 
Additional quotes from No Power Grab NYC Coalition Members.
 
“From the beginning we knew that Proposals 2 through 6 were nothing but a thinly veiled power grab by Mayor Adams. He pushed through an undemocratic and cynical process and undercut proper input of regular New Yorkers. Mayor Adams was able to do this because voters did not have enough time to learn about the proposals and their undemocratic backstory. We will continue to fight and organize, hold the Mayor and the NYPD accountable, and protect our street vendors,” said Theo Oshiro, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York.
 
"It is an outrage that Mayor Adams resorted to a sham charter revision process and deceptive language to manipulate New Yorkers into supporting his dangerous power grab proposals 2 through 6 —measures that will deepen the criminalization of our communities, erode democracy, and give the mayor and NYPD unchecked influence over the legislative process. “These results make it clear: our fight for a just and equitable New York is more urgent than ever. We will continue to stand together, challenging policies that threaten the wellbeing and safety of our communities, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to a future that serves all New Yorkers, not the interests of a privileged and corrupt few,” said Donavon Taveras, Community Safety Coordinator for the Justice Committee. 
 
“Tonight, Mayor Adams succeeded in his stealth attempt to increase his power at the expense of New Yorkers. The Mayor rushed through ballot proposals that obscured their true purpose — to weaken checks and balances in New York City and make it harder to hold government and law enforcement accountable. But let me emphasize: Harder, but not impossible. Tonight’s setback only means that advocates and the New York Civil Liberties Union will redouble our efforts to make sure the Mayor, the NYPD, the Department of Corrections are answerable to The People. An important next step will be reforming the City Charter revision process to make sure this kind of deceptive mayoral power grab can’t happen again," said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union
 
“Street vendors have always worked hard to serve their communities and are a staple of New York’s iconic street food culture. Proposition 2 is an unfair blow to these entrepreneurs. We’re already seeing the city dramatically ramp up its punitive enforcement, while doing nothing to solve underlying economic injustices. From property confiscation to violent harassment along Roosevelt Avenue, vendors are being attacked for lacking permits, at the same time that they are denied any chance to get a permit. City Council must use every remaining tool in their power to implement the Street Vendor Reform bills and protect vendors from the mayor’s inevitable harassment,” said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, Deputy Director of the Street Vendor Project.
 
“From the moment Mayor Eric Adams — the man currently under federal investigation for abusing his power and surrounding himself with people who do the same — convened his sham Charter Commission, the New York Working Families Party and No Power Grab NYC sounded the alarm. Unfortunately, now voters will have less of a check on how the Mayor runs the city. The New York Working Families Party will continue working around the clock to ensure voters have a Mayor and a City Council that delivers for them, not wealthy developers, foreign governments, or anyone else who is not solely focused on families and workers. We are encouraged by the proposed legislation to curtail these rushed charter commissions and prevent this from happening in the future,” said Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper, Co-Directors of the New York Working Families Party (NYWFP).
 
“Increasing transparency and accountability for the Department of Correction is essential to our work to close Rikers, and Proposition 4 will make it even harder to pass laws to stem their abuses and protect the rights of people in their custody. Mayor Adams may consider this a victory, but we know these changes to the City charter will hurt New Yorkers, and we will continue to fight for a City government that delivers for our members and our communities,” said Darren Mack, Co-Director of Freedom Agenda. 
 
“For three years, we have seen Mayor Adams abuse his power by supercharging the City’s policing and incarceration systems and endanger immigrant communities by fomenting divisions and intentionally misleading New Yorkers. It is deeply troubling that the Mayor resorted to a sham charter revision process and deceived New Yorkers into supporting his proposals to grab more power and put up impediments to real solutions for all New Yorkers. We will continue to stand together and challenge policies that harm our communities,” said Yasmine Farhang, Director of Advocacy of the Immigrant Defense Project. 
 
“It is shameful that Mayor Adams rushed through a City Charter Commission to give himself more power and weaken checks-and-balances. For our members, allies, and anyone else following the disaster that is Rikers under Mayor Adams, it comes as no surprise that the mayor would use a sham process to erode avenues of accountability and transparency further. We will continue to fight back and organize to shut down Rikers and build the fair, just, healthy, and equitable city all New Yorkers deserve,’ said Melanie Dominguez and Yonah Zeitz, NY Directors of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice.
 
“Ballot proposals should be an opportunity for voters to have a say on thoughtful, well-reasoned changes to our laws — not a shameless bid to undermine our checks and balances. While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, we remain committed to holding our elected officials accountable and calling out future attempts to undo checks and balances,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York.
 
“This vote is evidence that corrupt officials can use their power to manipulate the system in their favor, and get away with it. Our disgraced mayor intentionally deceived New Yorkers to vote against democracy in New York City, consolidating power as he faces charges for multimillion-dollar fraud. But this power grab is much bigger than Adams and could affect generations to come. We are committed to continue fighting to protect our democracy against forces of corruption, including our Mayor,” said David Siffert, Legal Director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. 

“The Mayor’s sham charter revision process was undemocratic and deceptive. But we will not be deterred and will continue our efforts to pass urgently needed legislation to protect the health and real safety of New Yorkers. New York City’s policing and incarceration systems continue to harm, torture, and kill New Yorkers. The Mayor must immediately implement the already enacted Local Law 42 to end solitary confinement in city jails, and all city and state officials must take immediate action to stop locking people in deadly jails and protect the human rights of all New Yorkers,” said Anisah Sabur with the #HALTsolitary Campaign. 
 
“We stand against the mayor's undemocratic attempts to defund our schools, protect the NYPD from accountability, and harass our street vendors while he and his admin line their own pockets. We will fight to protect our communities from this increasingly corrupt and authoritarian administration”- said NYC Democratic Socialists of America cochairs Grace Mausser and Gustavo Gordillo.
 
“Mayor Adams' undemocratic charter revision is part of his dangerous pattern of putting policing, criminalization and his own self interests above the needs and the safety of everyday New Yorkers. Since taking office, the mayor has systematically attempted to erode police oversight and accountability, reinforcing a culture of impunity for NYPD misconduct and abuse. Now –with the passage of these ballot proposals–he has changed the NYC constitution to give himself and the NYPD more power. Moves like this are what enables corruption and abuse to proliferate at the highest levels. And while Adams continues to hoard power for himself and for the NYPD, Black, Latinx, immigrant and other marginalized communities are left to suffer the consequences,”  Alan Abraham, Policy & Organizing Coordinator with Communities United for Police Reform.
 
“The New York Civic Engagement Table is committed to defending democracy in all levels of government. New Yorkers deserve a functional city government with strong checks and balances, not weakened ones. While this is not the outcome we hoped for, we remain committed to building with our partners to ensure power belongs to all New Yorkers,” said Karla Bradley, Interim Executive Director of the New York Civic Engagement Table.

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Background: 
No Power Grab NYC is a grass roots, community-led campaign of more than 60 local and national civil rights and community groups from every background and borough – joining with city, state and federal elected officials from across the city to defend democracy at the ballot this November. The coalition called on New Yorkers to vote “No” on Proposals 2-6 - the dangerous, undemocratic proposals that came out of Mayor Adams’ sham charter revision process. 
 
In May, just two months before the deadline to place charter changes on the ballot, Mayor Eric Adams hastily convened a charter revision commission to kick City Council legislation off the ballot. Every person appointed to the committee was one of the mayor’s staunchest allies, including his top political supporters, donors and lobbyists with pending business before the city. The language of the proposals was deceptive and misleadingly crafted to seem harmless, but Props 2-6 would have made major changes to New York City’s Charter - the equivalent to a constitution - that would have given the mayor more unchecked power, weakened checks-and-balances, and made it harder for the city to deliver for New Yorkers. 
 
From mid-September 2024 to Election Day, No Power Grab NYC held over 100 actions including rallies at City Hall with elected officials, including voter education events in subway stations, virtual town halls, canvasses, social media days, and more.  
 
For more information about the No Power Grab NYC campaign visit https://www.nopowergrabnyc.org/.
For a full list of all coalition members and elected officials who endorsed the Vote No on Props 2-6 effort, visit: https://www.nopowergrabnyc.org/about-us.