After consulting other political leaders, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that she won't remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office at the moment, saying that decision shouldn't be hers to make. "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, NBC News reports. "I cannot deny the people of this great city the power to make this decision for themselves." The issue arises from the Trump administration's attempt to have corruption charges against Adams dropped after instructing him to help carry out the president's immigration raids. Hochul said she'll instead try to curb Adams' power by:
- Adding a special inspector general to oversee the mayor.
- Providing the city comptroller, the public advocate, and the New York City Council speaker the independent authority to take legal action against the federal government.
- Broadening the operations of the state comptroller to include oversight of city government and evaluate "decisions related to the federal government."
"New York is facing a grave threat from Washington," Hochul said at a news conference in Manhattan, per the
AP. "The Trump administration is already trying to use the legal jeopardy facing our mayor as leverage to squeeze and punish our city."
New York's governor has the authority to remove an elected mayor, but it hasn't happened in the state's 235-year history, per the New York Times. The Justice Department's request to dismiss the charges is before a federal judge, who held a hearing Wednesday. (More Eric Adams stories.)
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