Proposed Charter Revision Hints at Mayor Adams’s Spat With City Council

Earlier this year, at a small meeting at City Hall between Mayor Eric Adams and leaders of an anti-crime group, two attendees complained about a New York City Council bill requiring the police to document more interactions with the public. They suggested that the mayor convene a charter revision commission to lessen the likelihood of similar legislation passing again.

Three weeks later, the mayor formed the commission, tapping several of the community leaders and other loyalists to serve on it.

On Tuesday, that commission did exactly what it set out to do.

The commission proposed hampering the City Council’s ability to pass legislation affecting the public safety operations of the Police Department, the Department of Correction and the Fire Department.

The proposed amendment to the City Charter, which is effectively the city’s constitution, would force the City Council to wait 45 days, instead of the current three days, to hold hearings on proposed public safety legislation once it is announced. After those hearings, the Council would have to wait at least another 50 days before voting on the matter. State law currently requires the Council to wait seven days after a bill is finalized before voting on it, according to a Council spokesman.

Should the commission approve the proposed referendum on Thursday, as it almost certainly will, city residents will have the opportunity to vote on it in November.

Thanks to the complicated mechanics governing ballot referendums, the mayor’s proposal is expected to push off the ballot a City Council proposal designed to limit the mayor’s power — a result that the Council speaker, Adrienne Adams, does not believe was accidental.