ALBANY – Mayor Eric Adams asked Gov. Kathy Hochul for three years of mayoral control in her $216.3 billion budget proposal — but she gave him four to show she’s “more collaborative” than her intractable predecessor.
“I said I was more collaborative. I’m showing you how I’m more collaborative. This is a different day in Albany government,” Hochul said during a meeting with The Post’s editorial board last week.
“I already responded to [Adams’] first request, which was, can he have a longer period of time where you’re gonna get mayoral control of schools? Now, he asked for three years. I said, ‘I’ll give you four.’ It’s a new day in Albany.”
The law granting mayoral control over New York City’s schools was set to expire in June.
“This is a costless gift from Hochul to Adams. There will be little appetite in the Legislature to wrest control from the mayor during his first term, and more of a record to judge if there’s a second,” said David Bloomfield, education professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center.
Hochul’s gift also saves Adams from trekking up to Albany to appeal the state Legislature for an extension of the measure, thus following in the footsteps of other city mayors since the law was first enacted in 2002.
Bloomfield said the sign of good will aligns with the cooperative “brand” Hochul wants to emphasize she has with her city counterpart.
“We’ve gone through this charade where the mayor has to go all the way up to Albany and get slapped around a little bit by the Legislature. They renew mayoral control, maybe with some symbolic tweaks, and then he goes back with his tail between his legs,” he said.
“It seems that the governor is willing to avoid that spectacle which (Gov. Andrew) Cuomo enjoyed, because in fact her brand is now to show a new comity — as opposed to comedy — between the governor and the new mayor,” he added, in a nod towards the tense relationship between Cuomo and former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who famously did not get along.
De Blasio received pushback during his first term as mayor from a Republican controlled state Senate, getting just a one or two-year extension of mayoral control.
But in 2019, he finally got the three-year extension, once Democrats took control of the Legislature.
“Thank you Governor Hochul, but it’s crazy the governor has any say in how New York City governs its schools. Mayoral control should be decided by the mayor, city council and city voters not Albany. We hope Mayor Adams works for permanent mayoral control and an end to state meddling,” said John Kahney of the watchdog group Reinvent Albany.
He told The Post the city should be granted permanent home rule authority via a change to state law via a constitutional amendment, thus eliminating the mayor and Big Apple from being at “Albany’s mercy.”
Hochul’s state Budget Director Robert Mujica explained during a budget briefing with reporters in January that the state provides over $11 billion annually to the city’s Education Department.
“The governor’s focus was making sure that there’s stability in spending those dollars, which is why mayoral control is here, and the four-year extension of it gives them time,” said Mujica on Jan. 18.
“I think that, at least it’s not, a political thing,” he said, referring to the past squabbles between mayors and the legislature.
A City Hall spokesperson told The Post “mayoral accountability allows us to serve our schools best and support our students as we emerge from the pandemic.”
“Governor Hochul is a true partner who collaborates because she wants to ensure our schools are the safest and most supportive environments possible. Like the governor said, it’s a new day in Albany. This isn’t political — it’s about prioritizing our students and putting them first,” the rep said.
