Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday said she would not remove Mayor Eric Adams from office “at this time,” instead proposing new oversight laws to restrict his power over city government.

The move follows a series of meetings Hochul held with Democratic city leaders to discuss whether or not to use her power to remove public officials from office.

"Voters determine who they want or who they do not want to represent them in elected office," the governor said at a press conference. "After careful consideration, I have determined that I will not commence removal proceedings at this time."

While Hochul said she had been "deeply troubled by the accusations leveled at Mayor Eric Adams," including the federal corruption charges he faces and allegations that he reached a “quid pro quo” with the Trump administration to get them dismissed, she said she would defer to democratic process.

"My strong belief is that the will of the voters and the supremacy and sanctity of democratic elections preclude me from any other actions," she said.

The governor said she is proposing legislation that would include the following “guardrails” to reestablish trust among New York City residents and “ensure that all decisions out of City Hall are in the clear interest of the people of this city, and not at the behest of the president”:

• Creating a new special inspector general position for New York City affairs within the office of the state inspector general that will be able to direct the New York City Department of Investigation to launch probes across city government
• Expanding funding for the Office of the Deputy State Comptroller for City Oversight, allowing the state to monitor the city’s financial operations more closely
• Giving the city comptroller, the public advocate and the New York City Council speaker the power to file litigation against the federal government using outside counsel, if the city’s Law Department does not do so “promptly” after being asked to

The legislation will need City Council and state legislative approval, Hochul said, adding that she had already spoken with City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins about the proposal.

Responding to Hochul's announcement, Adams said he was willing to work with the governor "to ensure faith in our government is strong."

"I was elected by the people of New York City and its working-class communities to uphold their values — and that is what our administration has done," he wrote in a statement.

"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. I look forward to continuing those conversations," he added.

In a statement, the City Council speaker's spokesperson said the council will review the details of Hochul’s proposals when they are ready.

“As Speaker Adams said earlier this week, New Yorkers need a city leader who is totally committed to protecting and improving their lives and provides management that is trusted as uncompromised,” spokesperson Julia Agos said.

The measures, once enacted, would take effect immediately and expire at the end of 2025, but will be “subject to renewal,” Hochul said.

While the mayor has the power to veto legislation, the governor said she believed the City Council could pass the measure with a veto-proof two-thirds majority.

"I also told the mayor that strong managers need to be identified to fill the roles of the deputy mayors before they become vacant, and that we in my administration, with strong relationships that we have, will work to accomplish that goal,” she said, referring to the four deputy mayors to Adams who resigned earlier this week. “And do whatever he can to keep his key commissioners.”

Asked if she believed Adams would choose “experienced professionals” as opposed to longtime allies to fill the roles, Hochul said, “You can ask him how he feels about these proposed changes.”

“But I explained that this is an opportunity to install safeguards that we need to have in place to give people confidence that there’s only one factor in every decision that’s made, and that’s what’s best for the people of this city,” she said. “And he has to earn that. And there’s an opportunity to do that.”

While a growing number of New York lawmakers — including the City Council speaker and the state Senate majority leader — have called on Adams to step down, Hochul on Thursday said it was “up to an individual to decide if they want to remove, leave from office at any time.”

“It is not up to me to tell them to leave. It is up to an individual if they want to resign the office to which they’ve been elected,” she said.

The governor also said she did not want her actions to be seen as a “power grab.”

“I don’t need to do this. I’m busy enough as governor. But I'm also not going to turn a blind eye to a situation that has put our city and our state in the national spotlight in a way that has been very negative,” she said. “I just want us to get back to a place where people feel confident again, and we stop being talked about all over the national news channels. We have to get this situation under control.”

Hochul’s actions come nearly a week after the Justice Department ordered Manhattan's top federal prosecutor, then-interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, to drop corruption charges against Adams, setting off a wave of resignations within Sassoon's office, including her own.

In a letter, Sassoon accused the Justice Department of engaging in "quid pro quo" tactics, moving to dismiss the mayor's case in exchange for his help on immigration enforcement in the city.

A top Justice Department official ultimately intervened, asking a court last Friday to dismiss the case.

Days later, four of Adams' top deputy mayors tendered their own resignations, three of whom said the "extraordinary events of the last few weeks" had prompted their decisions.

Adams has repeatedly denied the charges and insisted he will not step down, saying in an interview with NY1 on Wednesday that he was "a victim of a very overaggressive investigation."

"People wanna fight me, [I'm going to] fight for New Yorkers," he said. "People want to talk about me, I'm going to talk about the things New Yorkers need."

The mayor appeared in court for a hearing earlier on Wednesday, but Manhattan federal Judge Dale E. Ho did not rule on his case, saying he wanted to review the "unusual situation" carefully.

At a congestion pricing-related press conference Wednesday, Hochul fielded a few questions about Adams, but steered back to the topic at hand.

In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last week, Hochul called Sassoon's "quid pro quo" allegation "extremely serious and concerning," but said she did not want to have a "knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction" to the news.

"I have to do what's smart, what's right, and I'm consulting with other leaders in government at this time," the governor said at the time. "I need some time to process this and figure out the right approach."