New state bill would let City Council remove NYC mayor from office
Some Democratic state lawmakers want to grant the New York City Council the ability to remove a sitting mayor from office, two-and-a-half months after Gov. Kathy Hochul declined to exercise her power to force Mayor Eric Adams out.
At a news conference on Thursday, state Sen. Jabari Brisport and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, both Democrats representing New York City, said they will soon introduce a bill that would allow the Council to remove a mayor with a three-fourths majority vote. That process could only be triggered if the mayor had been provided with a copy of the charges against them and was given an opportunity to respond.
The bill would not alter the governor’s authority to remove a mayor, which generations of governors — including Hochul — have been reluctant to use despite numerous mayoral scandals. Nor would it eliminate the so-called inability committee, a five-member panel of city leaders that can remove a mayor in certain circumstances.
Instead, the bill would add the Council to the list of those with removal powers, which Epstein said would align the process more closely with gubernatorial or presidential impeachment.
https://gothamist.com/news/new-state-bill-would-let-city-council-remove-nyc-mayor-from-office