NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ office had staff block emails opposing Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution
The office of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams had staff block emails to lawmakers opposing the left-wing drumbeat of an Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution — a disturbing pattern of “silencing Jewish voices,” critics told The Post.
Days after news broke that Adams had drafted a cease-fire resolution — even as Hamas terrorists continue to hold at least 116 hostages — thousands of identical messages began pouring into council members’ office inboxes in mid-June as part of a coordinated campaign demanding they vote against the proposal.
Amid the influx, the Council’s information technology team quietly began blocking the messages and “redirect[ed] certain emails” sent to lawmakers’ inboxes, according to a veteran staffer and a note Director of Technology Greg Olsen sent to council members last month after The Post inquired about the firewall.
Council members and staffers hadn’t been informed about the email block before then, several lawmakers and staff said.
The email block received approval from the office of the general counsel, the staffer added, meaning the directive had to be “coming from the Speaker’s Office.”
“It’s part of a very disturbing pattern on the part of Council leadership silencing Jewish voices,” Councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) said, pointing to Adams’ recent policy change barring legislators’ from displaying any political signs — including Israeli hostage posters — on their chamber desks.
“They took the right of these people to contact their officials away from them, and they also are denying the right of elected officials to see the concerns of their constituents.”
Council members and staff griped that they’ve been spammed over the years with mass email campaigns, including during the Black Lives Matter protests and over legislation to allow noncitizen voting.
But in those cases, they said, no one was told to block the messages.
“It’s hypocritical and outrageous because we get emails about controversial subjects all the time,” said Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn).
During prior email campaigns, she and her staff have simply set up their filters to deal with spam.
“They want to pass a cease-fire resolution clearly, and they are interfering with the people’s right to speak up,” she added.
“There is no grand conspiracy. New Yorkers’ ability to email their Council members has not been interrupted — the Council welcomes communication from the public on every side of an issue,” Council spokesperson Benjamin Fang told The Post Saturday night.
“The number of emails received created instability for accounts and servers, and the best way to protect the system from malfunctioning was a workaround that delivered the communication to members in a spreadsheet,” he added.
“Council Members received these communication records and were informed of this approach, which is consistent with past practice by city government in response to mass email campaigns that destabilized servers and systems.”
