It feels like the City Council and the mayor can’t agree on almost anything lately.

What You Need To Know

  • On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams defended his decision to declare an emergency in order to suspend a bill that would ban solitary confinement in jails 

  • Adams said the executive order was about keeping inmates, correction officers and others safe on the embattled jail complex

  • The law banning solitary confinement came after the City Council in January overrode the mayor's veto. Local lawmakers denounced the move by Adams

On Saturday, Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order suspending parts of a new law that bans solitary confinement in jails.

The order declared a state of emergency that suspends part of the law that sets a four-hour time limit on holding a Rikers Island detainee who poses a safety concern. 

The mayor explained his actions on Monday. 

“I am not going to put civilians’ corrections officers in harm’s way. I’m not going to do that,” he said.

Adams argued that the federal monitor who has oversight at the jails complex had concerns over implementing the law, which partly led to his decision. 

The law was set to go into effect on Sunday after the City Council overrode his veto on the legislation in January. 

“The emergency executive order came after days of negotiating with the council legal team. Our team sat down and negotiated with them and stated, listen this is what the monitor is saying. That monitor was put in place to ensure safety on Riker’s Island and we just reached an impasse,” the mayor said at an unrelated event Monday.  

The executive order is just the latest fight in the mayor’s rocky relationship with the City Council.  

Local lawmakers denounced the mover, including Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, one of the main sponsors of the legislation. 

“We just feel that this is just constant behavior that is really counterproductive to what the council is trying to do, which is to put laws in place that look out for every New Yorker,” she said.

Former Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito noted that the mayor and City Council each have important roles in the creation of local laws. 

“This is a democracy we live in. The City Council is an important check in terms of this local government. The mayor may not like it, but that’s the role they have to play,” she said.

Adams’ defiance is not new. His administration refuses to implement changes to the city’s rental voucher program, also known as CityFHEPS. That battle is now being waged in court.  

Last week, Adams was able to temporarily block an effort by councilmembers to have more oversight over mayoral appointments with his Charter Revision Commission recommending five ballot questions, which knocked the City Council’s push off the ballot. 

“These moves are counterproductive and we really want to have a better working relationship but it is incredibly difficult when things like this happen,” Rivera said.  

Earlier this month, the City Council passed a resolution allowing the council speaker to take legal action related to the new law. 

“This measure which we came together responsibly over many, many years, to pass this ban on solitary confinement. This is something we intend to defend,” Rivera said.