Queens County Democratic Party boss Rep. Gregory Meeks is joining forces with socialist, anit-Israel-leaning elected officials to block Mayor-elect Eric Adams from installing Francisco Moya as City Council speaker, The Post has learned.
Meeks is in talks with far-left council members including Democratic Socialists of America darling Tiffany Cabán to push the other frontrunner, Adrienne Adams, who like Moya is from Queens, multiple sources said.
The alliance is odd as Meeks, an establishment moderate Queens Democrat, was formerly at war with Cabán and her allies over their radical positions to defund the NYPD and supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
“Greg Meeks has made a deal with Tiffany Cabán, Sandy Nurse and the other anti-Israel council members to back Adrienne Adams because that’s the only way they get to 26 votes. They don’t have the votes otherwise,” said one council insider.
Nurse, an incoming Brooklyn Democrat, doesn’t identify as DSA but does want to slash the NYPD’s budget and is pro-Palestine.
“Greg Meeks has a huge number of Jewish supporters and donors and the Jewish community in New York City is completely freaked out by the new anti-Israel faction in the City Council and that’s who he’s making a deal with,” the source said.
The official internal vote of the 51-member body will take place in early January, but the speaker is traditionally chosen by external power brokers like party bosses, labor unions and the mayor in December.
Cabán’s far-left coalition counts about five votes. Meeks’ faction adds the radical leftists to a group of progressive members from Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan including former speaker candidates Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn), Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), Gail Brewer (D-Manhattan) and Diana Ayala (D-Bronx).
Meeks endorsed Melinda Katz for Queens district attorney in the 2019 election nearly won by Cabán and slammed the former public defender for using “Trump-style tactics” to try and discredit the outcome.
But Meeks also backed the losing candidate for mayor, supporting Democratic primary candidate Ray McGuire over Adams.
“It’s a marriage of convenience,” a Democratic Party official told The Post about the oddball partnership between Meeks and Cabán for the speaker’s race.
Both Moya and Adrienne Adams — no relation to the incoming mayor — declared victory on Twitter Tuesday, somehow calculating they each have the internal votes needed to take the powerful speaker role that appoints members to key committees, decides what bills get consideration and works with the mayor to set budget priorities.
A Democratic operative said Adrienne Adams has more votes than Moya but the mayor-elect is refusing to support her, leading to an impasse.
Republican Minority Leader Joe Borelli (Staten Island) and his coalition of seven to eight members including moderate Democrats are leaning toward supporting Moya, sources said.
Meanwhile, the National Organization for Women is lobbying for Adrienne Adams to lead the council, noting the historic nature of the body’s makeup next year with 31 of the 51 members being female.
Sources told The Post the contest is expected to be settled by Friday.
Reps for Meeks and Eric Adams did not return messages seeking comment. A Cabán rep said about the deal, “We cannot confirm that at this time.”
Additional reporting by Nolan Hicks
