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Good Morning, New York! The Judge in Eric Adams case has ordered prosecutors to explain their move for dismissal, Hochul may deploy National Guard to prison strikes, NYU College GOP President out over Baron Trump comments. This is your Tammany Times AM Briefing for Wednesday, February 19th, 2025.

WHERE’S KATHY: In NYC with no public schedule.

WHERE’s ERIC: In NYC with one public interview scheduled with News 12.

TIPS? Email me: [email protected]

Front Pages

Hall Monitors

— Judge Ho has ordered federal prosecutors to appear in court today to explain why they want to dismiss Eric Adams’ case. Neither the DOJ nor Adams’ lawyers responded for comment. (Reuters)

— Anti-Israel protests erupted in Boro Park last night, with demonstrators flooding the primarily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. The police were forced to separate them from a crowd of counter-protestors as a brawl broke out. (NY Post)

Congressmen Ritchie Torres used it as an opportunity to post: “Violence is not a bug but a feature of the so-called “Free Palestine” movement, which has no desire to free Palestinians from Hamas.” (X/RitchieTorres)

— Brad Lander has threatened Eric Adams with a meeting of the ‘inability committee’ if he does not submit a plan to stabilize the administration by Friday. However, the likelihood that the committee would move for Adams’ removal is low: it contains two Adams appointees alongside three elected officials, and they would need 4/5 of the members to vote in favor of his removal. It would then require a 2/3 vote of the City Council. The legality of the committee has also never been tested before. (Gothamist)

Capitol Gains

— Kathy Hochul may deploy the National Guard to 25 prisons across the state as wildcat strikes break out. The strikes were unauthorized by union leadership, and Hochul has called them ‘illegal and unlawful.’ The strike leaves prisons dangerously understaffed, with some inmates and remaining employees concerned and confused. (NY Times)

— Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has called for Eric Adams to step down, and said that he has his own voice apart from the governor’s actions. He also said that he ‘speaks for New Yorkers,’ making it clear he wants to chart his own path apart from Hochul. (Gothamist)

— The Office of Cannabis Management plans to fight Kathy Hochul’s proposal to count the smell of cannabis as probable cause that a person is driving while impaired, a change which they say ‘undermines the basic tents of… decriminalization.’ Many legislative leaders are also against the change, backed by lobbyists for the cannabis industry and criminal justice advocates. (State of Politics)

Trail Mix

— NYC Comptroller candidate Justin Brannan was denied $1.5 million in matching funds because he forgot to take a required compliance training in time. He will still receive the full payout in March. (NY Daily News)

— A group of moderate Democrats is urging Hochul to exercise caution on the potential removal of Eric Adams from office. The group includes State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, who said it is better to wait until the election and let voters decide. (NY Post)

— Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is being urged to run for mayor, where she would be joining an increasingly crowded field. She is one of two major candidates who has been repeatedly encouraged to run, with the other being Fmr. Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (NY Post)

— The President of the NYU College Republicans has been forced to resign for calling Baron Trump ‘an oddity on campus,’ which the College Republicans of America called ‘inappropriate.’ (NY Post)

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