Instead of exercising her power to remove embattled Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she wants legislation passed to curb his authority over city government. But state lawmakers say that measure is stalled.

“I’d be shocked to think that people don’t agree that there should be some measures,” Hochul said on Tuesday at a public safety press conference at the Albany Public Library.

Calling the situation an emergency, Hochul proposed the limits to Adams’ power nearly a week ago.

“All decisions out of City Hall are in the clear interest for the people of this city and not at the behest of the president. I’m proposing three immediate actions which I believe will help protect New Yorkers,” she said on Feb. 20 after announcing the measures.

But now, state legislative leaders say they’re pumping the breaks.

“It doesn’t seem like this is going anywhere,” Michael Gianaris, the Democratic State Senate Deputy Majority Leader from Queens, said.

Lawmakers said they’ve discussed Hochul’s ideas to:

• Create a new inspector general for the city
• Expand oversight powers for the state comptroller
• Give some city elected officials a new ability to sue the federal government without City Hall approval

But there’s still no bill proposal for them to vote on.

“Anything that is proposed would have to be approved first by the City Council, they have already expressed their opposition, the assembly has expressed concern, our members have concern. So, we are a long way from anything like that happening,” Gianaris said.

Democratic State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says the City Council must make the first move.

“I don’t know if everything is here yet, it’s just like pieces out there,” he told reporters in the state Capitol Building on Wednesday.

Limiting the current mayor’s powers could also put Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in a bind, as she has shown interest in running for mayor.

Adams and some of his remaining allies say it’s inappropriate for the governor to remove him from office or curb his rein.

“This is a show,” state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, a Queens Democrat also running for public advocate, said. “This is Albany trying to micromanage the city, and we don’t need that. What we need is to focus on the issues that New Yorkers actually care about. And that is the overwhelming sense from my colleagues, that let’s just get back to the work that we do, to the issues that matter.”

Meanwhile, other possible candidates are keeping a close watch. Like former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 under threat of impeachment by the State Assembly over sexual misconduct, obstructing the release of state nursing home death data and soliciting a $5 million book deal.

“Did I speak to him? Yes, I did speak to him recently,” Heastie said when asked by NY1. “He could become the mayor of the city of New York and we kind of just talked about that, and I’ve spoken to other mayoral candidates. I am from the city. I’m the speaker of the city of New York, and I will always do right by the city no matter who the mayor is.”