Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said Tuesday that Mayor Eric Adams believes he is "untouchable" as calls for his removal grow.
"I think he thinks he's politically untouchable," Reynoso said during an interview on “Mornings On 1.” "And I think what he's finding out right now, the city of New York has made it very clear that we have a certain ideology, a certain way we do things in New York, and that's not it.”
Reynoso is the first borough president to publicly call for Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Adams from office. His remarks came less than a day after four of Adams’ deputy mayors submitted their resignations. The departures followed the Justice Department’s request for a court to dismiss federal corruption charges against Adams.
When asked if Adams believed his support base would shield him from consequences, Reynoso said he saw similarities between the mayor and President Donald Trump.
"Yeah, I think Trump has really jaded a lot of elected officials in this country. But in New York City—to think that he can move around and do as he wishes, and that we would suffer no repercussions—that's only something Trump has been able to do in our history here,” he said. “And I think [Adams] saw himself within that level, or that air where, ‘Hey, maybe I could walk around and do what I want, say what I want, and never be held accountable for it.’ And we're showing him different."
Reynoso also acknowledged the unprecedented nature of Hochul’s potential decision to remove Adams.
"It's all unusual at this point, there's never been an Inability Committee that has met. There's never been a governor that has removed a mayor in the history of the city of New York. And both things are being considered right now,” he said.
He noted Adams has lost key allies within his administration, making it harder to effectively run the city.
"A lot of strong allies within his administration are gone, either through indictments or through the resignations, and now people that can actually do the job. We're talking about great career elected bureaucrats—we're talking about high-level people that know what they're doing, they're gone,” he said. “And who's left doing the work in the city of New York?"
When asked why Adams does not appear to acknowledge the mounting calls for his removal, Reynoso pointed to the mayor’s ego.
"There's delusion. It's an ego thing," he said. “It just really feels like he's blinded by his own self-value.”