Hochul announced Thursday that she has, for now, decided against using her authority to remove Adams over concerns that such a move could result in “disruption and chaos” and would ultimately be undemocratic.
The decision came after she solicited opinions this week from a roster of New York political figures over questions about whether Adams could independently govern following the Justice Department’s move to drop his federal corruption case so he could help with Republican President Donald Trump’s efforts to arrest and deport violent illegal immigrants in the city.
In a statement after the governor's announcement, Adams said, “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.”
Justice Department leaders ordered prosecutors to drop the case against Adams saying it was impeding the mayor’s ability to help with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement push.
