On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a series of legislative proposals meant to curb the power of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, electing not to use her power as governor to remove him from office. “My strong belief is that the will of the voters and the supremacy and the sanctity of democratic elections preclude me from any other action,” the governor said in a press conference detailing her decision. “I cannot deny the people of this great city the power to make this decision for themselves.”
In a bid to “stabilize the city and restore calm,” the governor proposed the following series of “guardrails” to be passed by in state legislature: increased funding to state comptroller’s office; allowing citywide offices (the public advocate, the comptroller’s office, and City Council speaker) to file litigation against federal government without City Hall’s approval; and creating a new state deputy inspector general’s office for the city. For this last measure, the new state IG for the city would coordinate with the city’s department of investigations IG, who in turn could only be removed by the mayor with the new state IG’s approval. The proposed measures would be subject to renewal at the end of the year.
Hochul also framed the measures as an opportunity for Mayor Adams to “earn” the confidence of New Yorkers that he is working in their best interest, even though he is widely viewed as beholden to the Trump administration after the Department of Justice dropped a federal indictment against him “without prejudice,” meaning that it could be brought back at the DOJ’s discretion. The consequences surrounding the dropped charges against Adams have been considerable, as several federal prosecutors resigned rather than carry out the DOJ’s order to drop the indictment, and four deputy mayors (officials who report directly to the mayor and are considered critical to the office’s function) have resigned over concerns that Adams’ ability to govern is compromised by his relationship with the Trump administration.
One of the federal prosecutors who resigned, Danielle Sassoon, stated in her resignation letter that she had witnessed Adams’ lawyers asking for a quid pro quo from the DOJ in negotiations, indicating that he would be more compliant on the White House’s mass deportation policy if the charges against him were dropped.
Asked whether he had lost the ability to govern, Kathy left such judgment up to the mayor himself. “It is not up to me to tell them to leave,” Hochul said. “It is up to an individual if they want to resign the office to which they’ve been elected.” The New York City Charter explicitly grants the governor the power of removing the mayor from office, although that power has never been used before, and Hochul framed it as a move with immediate gratification but poor outcomes overall, saying that “those who argue ‘just go and remove him’ fail to appreciate […] the impact that such a process would have on the city.” The governor did not elaborate further on what that “impact” would be, other than the fact that the city would have multiple mayors in one year.
Hochul also pre-emptively pushed back against potential accusations that she is caving to pressure from “groups or individuals,” declaring that “it has absolutely no bearing on the decisions I make.”
Eric Adams responded to the governor’s press conference in a statement. “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,” the statement reads. “I look forward to continuing those conversations.”
