New York Mayor Mamdani defends revoking predecessor Eric Adams executive orders

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday (January 2, 2026) defended his revocation of executive orders that his predecessor ‍Eric Adams issued after being indicted in 2024 on federal charges ​of accepting illegal campaign contributions.

The dozen orders Mr. Adams issued ‌since his indictment included a directive to allow federal ​agents, including immigration officers, to use an office on Rikers Island, the city’s main jail. That order was later struck down by a court.

The new Mayor also struck down executive orders that Mr. Adams had portrayed as addressing anti-Semitism. Mr. Mamdani, a Muslim who some have accused of anti-Semitism over his ​support of Palestinians in Gaza, told reporters on Friday (January 2, 2026) that ⁠he would fund measures to prevent hate crimes, and would make protection of Jewish New Yorkers a focus of his administration.

Mr. Mamdani recalled September 26, 2024, ​the day when Mr. Adams ⁠was charged with accepting illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from Turkish nationals seeking to influence him, as “a moment when many New Yorkers lost even more faith in New York City ‌politics and the ability of city government to ‌actually prioritize the needs of the public, as opposed to the needs of the person.”

In April, a ‍U.S. Judge dismissed the charges against Mr. Adams, a Democrat, at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which had argued that the ‍case was distracting the mayor from helping Republican President Donald Trump step up deportations.

Mr. Mamdani, from the left wing of the Democratic Party, has clashed with Mr. Trump over the immigration crackdown.

On Thursday (January 1, 2026), Mr. Mamdani revoked orders by Mr. Adams that had prevented city institutions from divesting from Israel and that defined anti-Semitism in a way recognised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organisation of ⁠35 countries that promotes Holocaust education.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is among groups that argue the ​IHRA definition has been used to try to silence advocates for Palestinian ⁠rights.

While Islamic organisations praised Mr. Mamdani’s moves, Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on X on Friday (January 2, 2026) that Mr. Mamdani “shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s ⁠antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”