A Manhattan judge on Monday killed Mayor Eric Adams’ controversial executive order to reopen an ICE office on Rikers Island — declaring it “null and void,” according to a scathing decision.
The searing ruling from State Supreme Court Justice Mary V. Rosado came as part of a broader legal war between the City Council and Adams over Executive Order 50 to reestablish a federal immigration presence at the troubled jail complex.
Adams plainly failed to bind himself by the city charter to avoid conflicts of interest and not to use his office to benefit himself, Rosado said, citing the tossing of his federal criminal prosecution in April and his on-air TV appearances with border czar Tom Homan.
“The timeline of public statements and the ongoing criminal prosecution so clearly demonstrate an impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest,” Rosado wrote.
“The appearance of this conflict and Mayor Adams’ failure to recuse himself fully tainted the entire process by which Executive Order No. 50 was issued, making it null and void,” the decision said.
Rosado slammed Adams’ attempt to distance himself from the deal by claiming he had delegated the matter to First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, who ultimately signed the order.
“The argument that this conflict was cleansed by delegating to First Deputy Mayor Mastro is farcical. First Deputy Mayor Mastro is not independent of Mayor Adams, and he was appointed and delegated the specific task of issuing Executive Order No. 50 after Mayor Adams made it publicly known his desired outcome,” Rosado added.
The judge also said Adams’ claim that Mastro ought to be able to issue executive orders “lacks both merit and imagination,” and chided Hizzoner for not consulting the city’s Conflict of Interest board, or making any other attempt to determine if the order was ethically appropriate.
Since the order is “illegal and a nullity,” there was no need to order the injunction sought by the City Council to block the order from taking effect, Rosado said.
Rosado has already sided with the Council twice this year — first temporarily blocking the order, then indefinitely blocking it. Friday’s ruling formally kills the order and bars Adams from signing any agreement with ICE tied to Rikers. --->READ MORE HERE
New York State's Supreme Court ruled on Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot reopen an office at Rikers Island, a move NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced earlier this year.
In April, the mayor signed an executive order that would have allowed ICE agents into the jail complex in order to assist in criminal investigations, particularly into transnational gangs.
Dig deeper
ICE previously operated within Rikers for years, which led to the deportation of thousands of immigrants. In 2014, under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Council passed sanctuary city laws that prohibited the agency from continuing to do so.
Judge Mary Rosado declared the order "null and void" — calling it an "impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest," in her seven-page decision. She's, of course, referring to Adams' dropped federal corruption case. The mayor's case was reportedly dropped in exchange for his cooperation with the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
A bird's-eye view
What they're saying
The city plans to appeal the ruling. In a statement, First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said that the mayor's office "vehemently disagrees" with the judge's decision.
"Let’s be clear: at no point does the judge dispute that the substance of our executive order fully complies with local law — that’s because it does," he said. "There is also no actual conflict of interest here, and the mayor responded to the appearance of a conflict by delegating this issue to me as his first deputy mayor."
Judge Rosado, however, wrote that Adams could have appointed an "independent, impartial and insulated official" to handle the decision but instead decided to "fully taint the entire process." --->READ MORE HERE
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