NEW YORK, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said Thursday that she would not remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office for now but proposed measures to strengthen oversight of the city government.

"After careful consideration, I will not commence removal proceedings at this time," Hochul said, adding that the decision was made following her meeting with key political figures this week.

Hochul expressed her concerns about the precedent that would be set if she were to dismiss Adams from office.

Despite the power to do so, no governor in New York State has ever removed a democratically elected mayor.

Hochul has been facing increasing calls to remove Adams from office as the mayor is accused of helping federal authorities to implement immigration raids in exchange for the Trump administration's move to drop corruption charges against him.

In September 2024, Adams was charged with five counts of bribery, wire fraud and solicitation, primarily related to his mayoral campaign in 2021.

Federal prosecutors last Friday filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to drop the charges against Adams following a directive from Emil Bove, the acting U.S. deputy attorney general.

Admas denied there was a "quid pro quo" in the process and insisted on his innocence.

Meanwhile, Hochul now seeks to introduce guardrails through legislative actions, and the measures are meant to expire at the end of 2025 when Adams' term ends.

A new Special Inspector General for New York City Affairs will be established within the Office of the New York State Inspector General and the New York City Commissioner of Investigation could not be fired without approval by the State Inspector General, according to the proposals.

Besides additional funds to reinforce oversight of New York City's finances, Hochul also proposed to give other elected leaders in New York City explicit authority to bring litigation against the federal government using outside counsel if New York City's Law Department declines to do so promptly after a request.

"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," said Adams in a statement on Thursday. Enditem

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