New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will — for the time being — not remove embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office, but will instead impose limits on his power, a source with direct knowledge told NBC News on Thursday.
Hochul in recent weeks has been pressured to exercise her power to remove Adams from City Hall after the mayor’s indictment last year on a host of corruption allegations.
Calls to remove Adams from office have intensified after the Trump administration moved to drop all charges against the mayor and told him he needs to help federal authorities carry out immigration raids. That raised allegations from New York Democrats of a “quid pro quo” arrangement, making Adams allegedly beholden to Trump.
The governor is expected to announce late Thursday afternoon that her plans to limit mayoral authority will include installation of a deputy inspector general to oversee him, a source with direct knowledge told NBC News.
That move would require action by the state lawmakers in Albany and possibly the New York City Council.
Adams has insisted on his innocence and refused to resign. The Trump administration has also denied a quid pro quo arrangement.
Hochul is set to announce that she won’t remove Adams from office “right now,” though she will impose strict “guardrails” on his administration, the source said.
Federal prosecutors charged Adams back in September, accusing him of taking more than $100,000 in benefits and illegal campaign donations in exchange for favors to Turkish business and government interests.
Adams has refused to back down and Hochul has kept largely mum about a previously, little-known element of the city charter that allows a New York governor to remove the mayor.
“The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense,” according to the charter.
Hochul met with reporters on Wednesday to explain her plans to defend congestion pricing, a toll imposed on most drivers coming into Manhattan during non-overnight hours. And during that Q&A and Grand Central Terminal, Hochul refused to answer several questions lobbed to her about Adams.
Danielle R. Sassoon, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York resigned that post last week, saying Adams was explicitly looking for a quid pro quo reward from federal prosecutors if those corruption chargers were to be dropped.
“Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed,” Sassoon wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Adams insists there’s no quid pro quo being asked for by himself or offered from the government.
A federal judge on Wednesday said he’s still studying court filings on this matter.
Brittany Kubicko and Melissa Russo contributed.
