Will Mayor Mamdani uphold Eric Adams’ restrictive new press rules?

Eric Adams left us with a few gifts on the way out the door to Dubai — one last catchphrase, a botched attempt to kill the Elizabeth Street Garden development, various other 11th-hour efforts to cram through bad policy and undermine Mayor Mamdani from beyond the grave. And it would seem he took one last whack at the city’s press corps, while he’s at it.

During the final hours of Adams’ last day in office on New Year’s Eve, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment quietly handed down a proposal for a bizarre, restrictive set of new rules that appear to be aimed at curtailing overall press access in the city.

“Immediately that raises suspicions, no matter what it is,” said John Kaehny, executive director of government watchdog group Reinvent Albany. “Why the hell are you doing it in the last three hours of your administration?”

The proposal is focused on updating who can get access to press credentials in the city and how, including upholding the ability to deny a press pass based on “an open arrest or prior conviction of a misdemeanor offense regardless of whether the offense was committed during the course of newsgathering” and adding a new criteria for suspending a press pass, classified as "verbal or physical threats to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public, or placed a person in reasonable fear of physical injury." In addition to being harsher than standard employment laws over prior arrests, this particular rule has troubling implications for reporters who cover and risk unlawful arrests at protests, or even just ask questions that people consider too aggressive.

“New Yorkers should be concerned about this,” said Norman Siegel, a civil rights attorney who has previously represented journalists in disputes over press credentials with the city. “First of all, you’re innocent until proven guilty, and having an open arrest can take not only weeks but months before it’s dismissed as a false arrest. We can’t, for whatever reason, which is not provided here, forget about our fundamental principles of due process.”

Currently, press credentials are handed out by the Mayor’s Office of Media and entertainment, and allow reporters access to things like emergency scenes, breaking news events and city-sponsored events. Up until a bill in 2021 transferring authority to MOME, press passes were handled by the NYPD, often resulting in reporters being blocked from breaking news scenes and having passes revoked with no due process.

The proposed rules also include a requirement that press pass holders be affiliated with a specific outlet, updates that would make it easier to suspend a reporter’s press pass and for a longer period of time, and the invention of a “Premier Press Card” for journalists with 20 years or more of experience. (The intended use or benefits of the “premier card” is not explained anywhere in the 18-page proposal. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment did not respond to a request for comment.)

The proposal is currently online and open for comments, and it has has received a slough of negative feedback (“[this is] obviously intended to stifle independent journalism;” “[the rules] are a hindrance that come across as someone from Turkey or Trump’s DC suggested at a party Eric Adams attended.”). A public hearing is also taking place on Feb. 4 at 3 p.m.

Mayor Mamdani hosted a summit with digital content creators earlier this week, but has yet to weigh in on the Adams-era proposal. 

“When you have an incoming mayor and there’s a million and one things that could fall through the cracks, it would make sense for Mamdani to issue an executive order to stop all rulemaking of things that were proposed [at the end of the Adams administration], which I don’t think he’s done,” Kaehny said.

In the interim, anyone and everyone is able to do what New Yorkers do best, yell at people, whether in the comments section or at the February hearing. 

“I would call upon New Yorkers to review the proposed rules and show up on Feb. 4 and testify,” Siegel said. “Having a free press without unnecessary restrictions is more needed than ever in order to preserve our democracy and prevent an autocracy.”