In his nearly four years as mayor of New York City, Eric Adams has rarely vetoed bills passed by the City Council. But as he ramps up his re-election campaign, he has vetoed four bills in quick succession, arguing that the measures would hurt the economy and public safety.
Mr. Adams, a Democrat who is running as an independent and is trailing in polls, has received a wave of criticism from members of his party over the vetoes, especially for his opposition to bills that would help grocery delivery workers and unlicensed street vendors.
The Council is expected to override his vetoes on those two issues next month. But Mr. Adams appears eager for a fight and has claimed that the delivery worker legislation would raise the price of groceries and that the vendor bill would allow unlicensed street vending to proliferate.
Randy Mastro, Mr. Adams’s first deputy mayor, said in an interview that he hoped the Council, which voted convincingly to pass the measures, would let the vetoes stand. Mr. Mastro argued that it was important to “do the right thing and stand up for common sense,” even if the mayor ultimately loses the debate.
Each bill touches on a hot-button issue in the city, and the vetoes are part of a longstanding war between the mayor and the Council. The mayor’s last vetoes came in January 2024, when he lost a showdown with the Council over bills that sought to end solitary confinement in city jails and expanded documentation of police stops.
The latest series of vetoes began on July 30, when Mr. Adams rejected a bill related to a casino license in the Bronx, in a move that could end up helping President Trump. Mr. Adams has faced criticism over his efforts to ally himself with the president as part of his ultimately successful effort to get Mr. Trump’s Justice Department to abandon a federal corruption indictment against him.
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The post Adams, Embracing Veto Power, Says No to Raises for Instacart Workers appeared first on New York Times.
