New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ controversial policy requiring other elected officials to fill out a multipage online form to interact with members of his administration and request certain resources from city agencies could be on its way out.
City Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who represents parts of North Brooklyn and chairs the City Council’s government operations committee, introduced legislation on Friday that would immediately take effect and block the mayor’s protocol altogether if passed.
Restler told Gothamist that his bill would stop Adams from continuing to “politicize when city agencies are allowed to work with elected officials.”
“The role of city agencies is to work with all elected officials,” he said. “That is what the [city] charter directs our parks [and] sanitation [departments] and [the] NYPD to do — and the mayor has tried to insert himself into the middle of this process.”
It’s the latest development in the tug-of-war between Adams and local lawmakers — primarily members of the City Council — that kicked off when the mayor and his aides first started requiring the form in April.
In the spring, more than 60 elected officials signed a letter urging Adams to scrap the policy, while others exchanged tense words with one of his senior advisers during a Council hearing at City Hall. Some lawmakers have said they’ve simply refused to use the form and are contacting agencies and their leaders as normal.
But some administration staffers began filling out the form on behalf of elected officials who refused to do it themselves, according to a Gothamist analysis in July. Restler and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who also criticized the form when it was launched, each had requests submitted in their names and denied filling them out.
Restler’s legislation would update the city charter to specify that forms and other paperwork do not have to be completed in advance for agency heads and elected officials to meet.
“This advice and assistance should be given without any requirement to fill out a form or any silly hoops to jump through,” Restler said. “That advice should not be contingent upon prior approval by any other elected official, notably the mayor.”
Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for Adams, defended the use of the form in a statement on Friday.
“Mayor Adams has used these forms since he was borough president, and they are efficient ways to manage all of the inquiries, events, and meetings that the administration receives so that we can work together for New Yorkers,” she said. “We are grateful to those from every level of government who are working with us and using the form at every level of government.”
This story has been updated with comment from Mayor Eric Adams’ office.