(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is declining to use her executive power to remove embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office but is asking state lawmakers to approve “guardrails” that would blunt his powers ahead of next year’s mayoral election.
Hochul’s proposal, which requires legislative approval, calls for installing a “special inspector general” to oversee the mayor and making arrangements for the city comptroller, the public advocate and the New York City Council speaker to have an independent authority to take possible legal action against the federal government.
Hochul said Adams’ fate should be “left to the voters” to decide at the ballot box next year. In the interim, she said the plan will “restore the public’s faith in the city government” and “ensure that all decisions out of City Hall are in the clear interests of the people of New York City and not at the behest of the president.”
” My strong belief is that the will of the voters and the supremacy and sanctity of democratic elections preclude me from any other action,” she said Thursday in remarks. “I cannot deny the people of this great city the power to make this decision for themselves.”
Hochul’s plan also calls for expanding operations of the state comptroller to include “city oversight” that would closely evaluate “decisions related to the federal government,” she said.
“This is an opportunity to install safeguards that we need to have in place to give people confidence that there’s only one factor in every decision that’s made, and that’s what’s best for the people of the city,” Hochul said.
Adams, a first-term Democrat up for reelection this year, faces a crowded field of Democratic challengers in the June 24 primary. That will likely include former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat expected to announce his bid for mayor.
Hochul has been pressured to use her executive power to remove Adams after his indictment last year on corruption allegations. Those calls grew louder after the Trump administration’s Justice Department announced last week that it was moving to drop federal bribery and fraud charges against the mayor in exchange for cooperating with federal immigration crackdowns in the city.
In a statement, Adams said he was elected by the people of New York City and argued that Hochul doesn’t have the legal authority to limit his powers while in office.
“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,” Adams said.