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NYC Law Department will not defend Mayor Adams in lawsuit to block ICE on Rikers
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Apr 16, 2025
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Graeme Sloan for The Washington Post via Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Apr 16, 2025
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The New York City Law Department will not defend Mayor Eric Adams against a City Council lawsuit seeking to block his administration’s order to let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operate at the city’s jail complex on Rikers Island, according to a letter the city’s chief counsel filed in court Wednesday.
“The New York City Law Department has advised that they will not be representing any party in this litigation, and the respondents are accordingly in the process of identifying outside counsel to represent them in this matter,” the mayor’s chief counsel Allison Stoddart wrote. The letter, which was dated and sent by email Tuesday, was first reported by the New York Daily News.
The move is unusual: Absent any conflict of interests, the law department represents the mayor, the city, other elected officials and city agencies in most legal matters. It generally does not represent the Council whenever it sues the mayor, and opts instead to defend the administration.
“I cannot recall a single instance in which the Law Department elected not to represent this mayor, or prior ones, when that officeholder was sued in his official capacity,” wrote Jason Otaño, an attorney for the Council, in a letter to the judge.
Muriel Goode-Trufant, who heads the law department as the city's corporation counsel, said in a statement that the department would not get involved in the matter because it had previously advised both sides.
“Due to the fact that the New York City Law Department has provided advice to both sides of City Hall on the scope of the city’s sanctuary city laws, it has removed itself from representing either side of City Hall in this litigation,” Goode-Trufant said, referring to policies limiting city officials' cooperation with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.
But Otaño, who has worked in city government for nearly two decades, called the department’s decision “historical” and said it suggested the Law Department could not “stand behind the Mayor and the First Deputy Mayor’s actions.”
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, rather than Adams, signed the executive order allowing ICE to have offices on Rikers for the first time in more than a decade. After Politico reported that Adams had recused himself from the matter, the mayor’s office pushed back, saying Adams had “delegated” the task.
The Council’s suit seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent federal law enforcement officials from entering Rikers Island. It alleges the executive order was issued illegally if Adams did not recuse himself, because it may have resulted from a “quid pro quo” with the Trump administration. Trump officials sought the recent dismissal of Adams' federal corruption charges and have prioritized rollbacks to New York City’s sanctuary policies.
The City Council has sued the Adams administration twice before, joining the nonprofit Legal Aid Society in a lawsuit over the city’s refusal to expand low-income housing subsidies and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams over the city’s decision to suspend portions of a law banning solitary confinement. The Law Department represented the mayor in both cases.
Kayla Mamelak Altus, the mayor’s press secretary, said the department’s decision was “not unreasonable.”
“The Council is trying to make something out of nothing,” she said.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
Race And Justice Unit
Politics
eric adams
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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