Three of the most progressive members of the New York City Council were stripped of their committee chairmanships on Wednesday, eroding the power of the body’s left-leaning faction and raising concerns that the moves by the speaker, Adrienne Adams, were retaliatory.
The three members, Tiffany Cabán, a councilwoman from Queens; Shahana Hanif, a councilwoman from Brooklyn; and Chi Ossé, a councilman from Brooklyn, had gone against Ms. Adams and voted against the city’s $107 billion budget in June.
They argued that the budget included unnecessary spending cuts that would harm vulnerable New Yorkers.
“I can’t tell you with any kind of certainty what considerations went into this decision, but I can say there’s nothing I would change about the last two years, not one statement, not one oversight question, not one vote, and especially not my vote against the mayor’s horrible budget cuts,” Ms. Cabán said.
The committee changes come after Ms. Adams, a moderate Democrat, unexpectedly removed Keith Powers, a councilman from Manhattan who was seen as one of Ms. Adams’s most loyal allies, from his role as majority leader earlier this month.
Amanda Farías, a councilwoman from the Bronx, was named as the new majority leader, and her ascension, Ms. Adams noted, marked the first time that all the leadership positions on the Council would be held by women of color.
A spokesman for Ms. Adams, Mandela Jones, said the claims of retribution were misguided. “The appointment of committee chairs is determined based on the best interests of the Council as a body and not based on the individuals,” he said.
The latest committee changes were criticized as “shameful” and retaliatory by left-leaning elected officials who said the moves would “disenfranchise” their colleague’s constituents.
“When our elected leaders prioritize political retribution and settling scores, the people of NY state are the ones who lose,” Phara Souffrant Forrest, a member of the State Assembly from Brooklyn and a Democratic Socialist, wrote on social media.
Ms. Cabán will no longer head the Committee on Women and Gender Equity; Mr. Ossé will no longer serve as chairman of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations.
Ms. Hanif was not reappointed as chairwoman of the Immigration Committee, but she is expected to be named as a co-leader of a task force on hate.
Committee assignments are often seen as a way to reward or punish Council members. Justin Brannan, the chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, was given that role after he dropped out of the race for speaker and backed Ms. Adams.
Not everyone who voted against the budget in June lost the opportunity to head a committee.
Sandy Nurse, a councilwoman from Brooklyn who voted against the budget, was not reappointed as chairwoman of the Sanitation Committee. She will instead serve as chairwoman of the Criminal Justice Committee, an issue that will be a focus of the speaker over the next two years.
Alexa Avilés, a councilwoman from Brooklyn, is expected to be the new chairwoman of the Immigration Committee. Carmen De La Rosa, a councilwoman from Upper Manhattan, is expected to remain chair of the Labor Committee and Jennifer Gutiérrez, a councilwoman from Brooklyn, will remain chairwoman of the Technology Committee.
Lincoln Restler, a councilman from Brooklyn who voted against the budget but had not led a committee, is expected to lead the Government Operations committee.
The committee assignments have not been made final and are subject to change.
It’s not the first time Ms. Adams has been criticized for perceived retaliation against Council members who did not support the budget.
In 2022, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused her of playing “dirty politics” against several progressive Council members who voted against the budget by cutting discretionary funding mostly used to support community groups.
“Who defunds after-school programming for underprivileged kids in public housing to score a political point?” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said on a social media broadcast.
Some worried that the changes would disrupt a City Council that has unified in opposition to Mr. Adams’s handling of the influx of migrants and his unpopular budget cuts to critical city services. (Ms. Adams is not related to the mayor.)
In July, the Council overrode the mayor’s veto of a plan to expand a housing voucher program. Last month, the Council passed legislation requiring the reporting of police stops and banning solitary confinement in the city’s jails over the objections of Mr. Adams.
Ms. Hanif said that she remains optimistic that the work of the City Council on issues like criminal justice and the influx of migrants will continue.
“This will not slow us down,” she said.
