NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- Mayor Eric Adams addressed the city on Tuesday, saying it's "time to move forward," a day after the Justice Department directed federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against him. The DOJ's order ended months of speculation that President Donald Trump would take steps to end the case against Adams.
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1:15 PM -- Hochul is not speculating on Trump admin's motives
Asked if Adams is "compromised" on Tuesday at an unrelated press conference, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she has “to believe that the mayor is going to put the interest of New York City first.”
“I'm going to continue monitoring the situation, as I’ve had to do since last fall,” the governor said. “This is a very serious job, and the City of New York needs full-time attention. It is my hope that after this issue, there’s more attention now back on the minutia of running the city. And that’s important to me. I just want to have a partner who has the same priories that I do and that’s focused on the priorities of this city and nothing else.”
Hochul said she wouldn’t speculate on the Trump administration’s motives for the charges being dropped.
“I’m not engaging in speculation about the motivation of anyone here,” she told reporters. “All I’m saying is I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got to worry about people catching bird flu. I’m more anxious about steel and aluminum tariffs cutting down factories in the state of New York and thousands of jobs.”
The governor said she’s satisfied with the direction the city is going under the Adams administration.
“You know I’ve worked with the mayor to make sure he brought in a different team to manage the operations of government,” Hochul said. “There is a new police commissioner. I’ve spent time with her. I have confidence in her. Crime is going down on the subways in particular.”
12:25 PM -- Adams says 'it's time to move forward'
During a short address from the City Hall Blue Room on Tuesday afternoon, Adams addressed New Yorkers about the DOJ directing his federal corruption case to be dismissed, calling it “the most difficult 15 months of my life” and saying the DOJ's move was “finally ending a months-long saga that put me, my family and this city through an unnecessary ordeal.”
“As I said from the outset, I never broke the law and I never will,” the mayor said. “I will never put any personal benefit above my solemn responsibility as your mayor. It’s worth repeating the facts, because many sensational and false claims have been made. So let me be clear: I never asked anyone to break the law on my behalf or on behalf of my campaign. Never. And I absolutely never traded my power as an elected official for any personal benefit. No witness ever came forward publicly to make claims against me. None of the baseless threats from prosecutors of new charges and new evidence ever materialized. And this case will no longer continue.”
At one point the mayor quoted Psalm 34:1: "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Adams went on to thank the Justice Department “for their honesty,” saying, “now we can put this cruel episode behind us and focus entirely on the future of our city. It’s time to move forward.”
“But despite the fact I’m no longer facing legal questions, I also understand that many New Yorkers will question my character,” he said. “And I know that I must continue to regain your trust. I have learned a lot over the last year. And this experience has been humbling. But as we have been dragged through this unfortunate prosecution, I never took my eyes off what was important—you and your family’s future. And because of that our city government has never been stronger.”
He went on to list some of his administration’s accomplishments, including “record” drops in crime and increases in affordable housing, as well as “the most jobs ever” in the city.
“Many people continue to feed whatever false narratives they want, but no one can dispute the numbers,” he said.
12 PM -- Adams is set to address city at noon
Adams is scheduled to give an announced around noon. His address is being livestreamed and is being carried live on 1010 WINS; listen here.
9:30 AM -- Trump calls NY 'most corrupt State in the Union'
Trump hasn't directly reacted to the DOJ moving to dismiss Adams' corruption case, but the president did take to Truth Social shortly after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, slamming New York state and the legal cases against him there.
"New York is the most corrupt State in the Union," Trump wrote in part. "That is why so many businesses and people are fleeing. We need great Judges and Politicians to help fix New York..."
At an event in Manhattan last October, Trump suggested he and Adams had both been "persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders."
"MAKE NEW YORK GREAT AGAIN!" Trump concluded his post Tuesday.
Trump was convicted in state court last year of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He was given a no-penalty sentence before his inauguration in January. Two federal cases against him out of Florida and D.C.—dealing with classified documents and election interference, respectively—were dismissed last year, while a fourth case is pending out of Georgia.
Adams' case is federal and was brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
7:45 AM -- Adams will give noon address to city
Adam will give an address to the city at 12 p.m. Tuesday, according to his schedule. The mayor, who usually holds a weekly Q&A with reporters on Tuesday, will hold the address without reporters in the room to ask questions. It's unclear if he'll address the DOJ's move to drop charges against him. 1010 WINS will carry the address live; listen here.
7:15 AM -- Statement from Alex Spiro, mayor's defense attorney
The attorney for Adams, Alex Spiro, sent out this statement last night:
“As I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent—and he would prevail. Today he has. The Department of Justice has reevaluated this case and determined it should not go forward. There is good reason for that. The facts of the case are clear: the mayor never used his official position for personal benefit. Nor did he have any role in violating campaign finance laws. Despite a lot of fanfare and sensational claims, ultimately there was no evidence presented that he broke any laws, ever. The witnesses that were promised never materialized. The additional charges that were threatened never came. Now, thankfully, the mayor and New York can put this unfortunate and misguided prosecution behind them.”
7 AM -- NYC pols react to DOJ move to drop charges
Various city officials reacted to the move by the DOJ to drop charges against Adams, many of them critically.
Among them were the 2025 mayoral candidates, including state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, City Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, former City Comptroller Scott Stringer, state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and candidates Jim Walden and Whitney Tilson. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is next in line for the mayoralty if Adams were to step down, said the mayor had "adopted a strategy of selling out marginalized New Yorkers and our city's values to avoid personal and legal accountability."