(NEW YORK) — Questions about New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ future in office have begun to swirl as he faces indictment by a federal grand jury amid calls for his resignation.
The indictment, which was announced Wednesday, details five charges, including improper campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud, and bribery during his time as Brooklyn borough president and NYC mayor.
Adams is the first New York City mayor to be indicted while still in office.
In a recorded speech addressed to New Yorkers on Wednesday night, Adams said he would fight the indictment with “every ounce of my strength and my spirit.” He also said he would not resign as mayor.
But should Adams ultimately heed the growing calls for him to step down, who will take his place?
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is next in the line of succession and would become acting mayor. He previously served on the NYC Council representing the 45th District neighborhoods of Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Flatlands, and Marine Park in Brooklyn from 2010 to 2019.
Williams is a first-generation Brooklyn native of Grenadian heritage, who graduated from the NYC public school system and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brooklyn College. As public advocate, his duties include serving “as an ombudsman for city government, providing oversight for city agencies, investigating citizens’ complaints about city services and making proposals to address perceived shortcomings or failures of those services,” according to his biography on the city’s official public advocate website.
Williams also previously served as the executive director of NYS Tenants & Neighbors, which describes itself as “a grassroots membership organization working collaboratively with tenants to build and effectively wield power to preserve and protect affordable housing in New York State.”
While serving on the NYC Council, Williams “championed landmark legislation that fundamentally transformed policing in NYC,” according to his official biography, including “ending the abuse of Stop, Question & Frisk in communities of color and creating the NYPD’s Office of Inspector General to investigate unlawful & unethical behavior.”
Additionally, Williams is former co-chair of the NYC Council’s Task Force to Combat Gun Violence and worked with them to reduce gun violence in New York City.
After Williams, the next in the mayoralty line of succession is New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against Adams in the 2025 mayoral race.
Lander is already calling on Adams to resign. “Trust in public institutions — especially City Hall — is essential for our local democracy to function and for our city to flourish,” he posted Wednesday on X, in part. “The hardworking people of New York City deserve a city government and leadership they can trust. Right now, they don’t have it.”
Adams “deserves due process, the presumption of innocence, and his day in court,” Lander’s post continued. “However, it is clear that defending himself against serious federal charges will require a significant amount of the time and attention needed to govern this great city. The most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands.”
As comptroller, Lander is New York City’s chief financial officer. His official biography describes his role as New York City’s “budget watchdog and chief accountability officer,” including serving as “investment advisor and custodian for the City’s public pension funds.”
His biography cites his success in uncovering through audits “nearly a quarter of a billion dollars underreported in NYC Ferry expenditures, inadequate cost controls in Covid-19 emergency procurement, and the ineffectiveness of the City’s homeless sweeps,” in addition to other initiatives and accomplishments.
Before he was elected as city comptroller in 2021, Lander was a 12-year veteran of the NYC Council, serving the 39th district, representing parts of Brooklyn.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
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