Hochul to Seek New Oversight, but Won’t Remove Adams for Now

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Thursday that she would not exercise her authority to remove Mayor Eric Adams from office for now, but would seek to impose strict new guardrails on his administration of New York City.

While Ms. Hochul’s actions, if enacted by state and city legislators, would fall far short of the removal some have demanded, they would curtail Mr. Adams’s independence as he battles accusations that he entered a corrupt agreement with the Trump administration to drop federal bribery charges against him.

In remarks at her Manhattan office, Ms. Hochul said she understood why New Yorkers were outraged by the actions of Mr. Adams, a fellow Democrat she has considered an ally for years. She framed her approach as part of a broader fight to protect the city from President Trump’s influence.

“The Trump administration is already trying to use the legal jeopardy facing our mayor to squeeze and weaken our city,” Ms. Hochul said. “I call it the Trump revenge tour, and I have to stand in its way.”

The governor then laid out a suite of new oversight measures designed to empower other state and city officials to keep careful watch over Mr. Adams’s team at City Hall and potentially challenge Mr. Trump if the mayor would not.

The proposed changes included creating a new state deputy inspector general focused on New York City’s operations; establishing a fund for the city comptroller, public advocate and City Council speaker to hire outside counsel to sue the federal government if the mayor is unwilling to do so; and granting additional funds for the state’s comptroller to scrutinize city finances.