House Speaker Adrian Adams’ move to force City Council members to remove political signs from their desks, including Israeli hostage posters and flyers calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East, has already sparked outrage, the Post reported. reported.
Officials said the speaker, who is no relation to Mayor Eric Adams, first proposed the plan during a meeting Monday with other City Council Democrats in an attempt to quell speech among council members over the Israel-Hamas war. It is said that he took it out to
The council’s general counsel sent a memo Wednesday informing members that they cannot “stick to furniture or display signs or flags” in the chamber or during meetings without prior approval from the chair. .
Inna Vernikov, a Brooklyn Republican city councilwoman, said in outrage: “This is PowerFlex’s shameful and hideous excuse to limit my freedom of expression.” “My colleagues have a constitutional right to put up ‘ceasefire now’ posters, no matter how much I object to them. No matter how much my colleagues object to my message, I have a constitutional right to put up ‘ceasefire now’ posters. You have the right to post.”
Brooklyn Democrat Kalman Jaeger also criticized the policy, calling it a violation of free speech.
“No member of Congress can unilaterally decide what a member of Congress puts on their desk,” Yeager raged.
Both told the Post they plan to put the signs back.
City council officials said they expect all signs to be removed as early as Thursday.
The speaker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
