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.
The final decision follows a scathing 29-page lawsuit filed in April by the City Council, which accused Adams of orchestrating a “corrupt bargain” with the Trump administration to get the feds to drop his corruption case in exchange for greenlighting ICE’s return to Rikers.
Homan, Trump’s border czar, essentially confirmed such a deal by colorfully telling Adams during a joint interview that he’d be “up his butt” if the mayor didn’t fulfill an “agreement,” the Council’s suit argued.
The lawsuit also extensively quoted Homan, broadly outlining his intentions to use the Rikers ICE office for wide deportations.
However, City Hall “vehemently” disagreed with Rosado’s decision and remains confident in Adams’ ability to appeal the case.
“We vehemently disagree with the judge’s decision, and we remain confident we will prevail when we appeal this case. 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,” Mastro said in a statement to The Post.
“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 — whom the judge herself described as an ‘accomplished and highly educated attorney’ — and I acted entirely independently of the mayor,” he said. “As I have repeatedly said, this executive order is about the criminal prosecution of violent transnational gangs committing crimes in our city. Our administration has never, and will never, do anything to jeopardize the safety of law-abiding immigrants, and this executive order ensures their safety as well,” Mastro added.
“We will also never assist in civil enforcement, in accordance with local law. It is a shame that we can’t put politics aside and allow the executive branch to do its job of making New York City as safe as possible for the 8.5 million New Yorkers who call this city home.”
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