SPRING HAS SPRUNG: Gov. Kathy Hochul’s team is riding high amid the shakeup at City Hall. “I feel he has done what I asked him to do, which was to clean house,” Hochul told reporters today, referencing the flurry of resignations and firings in City Hall in the last three weeks. “These are positive changes that we wanted to see.” On the eve of the mayor’s Sept. 26 indictment, Hochul urged Mayor Eric Adams to remove many of his scandal-plagued top officials from City Hall. Now it’s clear Hochul, who has the power to oust Adams, is getting what she wanted. And as long as she continues to force him to clean house, she can avoid confronting his possible removal, which would raise racial, ethical and legal questions. But there’s one change that symbolizes just how jazzed the governor’s team is with Adams’ recent personnel moves. First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer — the veteran of city government who replaced the recently-resigned Sheena Wright — was lauded by Hochul and her top staff today during a housing announcement. “You have seen a lot of changes over the last couple weeks, and especially this week, in naming Maria Torres-Springer as his first deputy mayor,” Hochul said. “That is a very significant change. It's an important change.” Hochul and Torres-Springer were in Brooklyn together to hail the temporary extension of the 421-a program that grants residential property tax breaks to spur development. They also promoted the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, one of Adams’ signature policy proposals to encourage growth and combat a record housing shortage. Adams was in the next borough, hosting a roundtable with NYCHA resident representatives. Hours earlier, he was beside Sheriff Anthony Miranda — who is the subject of an investigation into whether his office illegally seized cash from illegal weed shops — for an announcement on his department’s crackdown on the illicit stores. That Torres-Springer — not Adams — accompanied Hochul for the housing announcement isn’t indicative of anything more than scheduling complications, both offices said. (“It's hard to mesh up our schedules,” Hochul said today; It was “due scheduling issues,” Adams’ office told us). But the mayor’s absence presented an opportunity for Torres-Springer to enjoy the praise of an administration upholding her as proof Adams heeded Hochul’s advice. At a Citizens Budget Committee breakfast this morning, Karen Persichilli Keogh, the highest appointed official in the governor’s chamber, applauded the Torres-Springer appointment during a rare public appearance. “We are extraordinarily pleased with a lot of the appointments, particularly Maria Torres-Springer,” said Persichilli Keogh, sitting next to Hochul official Kathryn Garcia. On Friday, Adams pushed back on the idea that Hochul was “choosing” his new appointments: “Do you think I would be a puppet mayor and allow others to pick my administration?” he snapped. Hochul responded to that today, agreeing with his assertion. “I did not tell him to select Maria Torres-Springer,” Hochul said. “I was just saying that, now that she's selected, reaffirming that we have a long standing relationship with her.” — Jason Beeferman | 
