(Bloomberg) — Governor Kathy Hochul said she doesn’t plan to remove embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams for now but will take steps to curb his power.
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The governor said Thursday that she plans to establish a set of “guardrails” on the Adams administration. Those steps include creating a state-level deputy inspector general for New York City and giving more legal power to non-mayoral officials including the city comptroller and City Council speaker to sue the federal government.
Under the state constitution and city charter, Hochul has the power to remove the mayor and has been facing pressure to do so in recent days after the Trump administration sought to drop corruption charges against Adams. Hochul has noted several times that removing a mayor hasn’t been undertaken by any governor in the history of New York state.
“My strong belief is that the will of the voters and the supremacy and sanctity of democratic elections preclude me from any other action,” Hochul said at a news briefing. “I cannot deny the people of this great city the power to make this decision for themselves.”
The new proposals would have to be passed by the City Council and state legislators and would be subject to renewal, she said. Hochul also called for beefed-up state oversight of the city’s finances.
Adams said he was open to working with the governor.
“While there is no legal basis for limiting New Yorkers’ power by limiting the authority of my office, I have told the governor, as we have done in the past, that I am willing to work with her to ensure faith in our government is strong,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing those conversations.”
Calls for Adams to leave office intensified after a top official at President Donald Trump’s Justice Department directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop their pending bribery case against the mayor. The directive prompted criticism that Adams was more beholden to Trump’s agenda than the welfare of the city.
Four of Adams’ deputy mayors resigned this week, spurring Hochul this week to host meetings with fellow Democrats to discuss a path forward.
“We have to get this situation under control,” Hochul said. “I believe this is a place we can go to reassure New Yorkers that the fears that I’ve heard from many of them will be unfounded because we have some systems in place. That’s what I’m trying to do — to try to stabilize the situation and calm it down.”
