Governor Hochul will meet with “key leaders” on Tuesday to discuss removing Mayor Adams from office.

Ms. Hochul made the announcement Monday evening in a statement, amid mounting pressure from Democratic leaders in the city and state for her to use her constitutional power to remove the embattled mayor from office. Mr. Adams is refusing to step down on his own.

Four of Mr. Adams’ deputy mayors resigned Monday over concerns Mr. Adams has entered into an alleged quid pro quo with the Trump administration to cooperate with their immigrant deportation plans in exchange for having all charges dropped in the federal bribery and corruption case against him. 

The number of Democratic leaders calling on Mr. Adams to resign is mounting. The state’s Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Congressman Ritchie Torres, Congresswoman Andrea Ocasio-Cortez, and City Comptroller Brad Lander are among them.

“I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office,” Ms. Hochul said in the statement. “In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly.”

“That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored,” Ms. Hochul said. “I have asked key leaders to meet me at my Manhattan office for a conversation about the path forward, with the goal of ensuring stability for the City of New York.”

Mr. Adams is refusing to step down. Speaking at a black church on Sunday, Mr. Adams was defiant. “One of your own is the Mayor of the City of New York,” he said. “I’m not going to step down, I’m going to step up.”

“I am going nowhere. Nowhere,” he said.

Ms. Hochul is in a tough position. She has the sole power to remove Mr. Adams from office, but she could face blow back from black voters in her reelection bid next year. “If she removes him, what happens to her?” a Democratic strategist, Hank Sheinkopf, tells The New York Sun. “She can’t take the risk of losing New York City votes because her polling numbers are atrocious today.”

Ms. Hochul said just last week that removing Mr. Adams from office “does not feel like something that is very democratic.” She then wavered in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, leaving the door open to a removal. She framed her decision in the statement as one of concern for the residents of New York City, though she is no doubt influenced by the pressure to keep anti-Trump state and city Democratic leaders happy. 

“Let me be clear: my most urgent concern is the well-being of my 8.3 million constituents who live in New York City,” Ms. Hochul said. “I will be monitoring this situation extraordinarily closely to ensure that New Yorkers are not being shortchanged by the current crisis in City government.”

Mr. Adams has no reason to resign on his own. The judge presiding over his case, Dale Ho, is still weighing whether to comply with the Trump Justice Department order to drop the charges against Mr. Adams “without prejudice,” meaning they can be brought back at any time. The order, issued by acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove last Monday, prompted the resignation of acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, and others in the Justice Department.

If Mr. Adams is removed from office, the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, will replace him. A far left progressive, Mr. Williams is unlikely to cooperate with Mr. Trump’s migrant deportations or any of the administration’s directives. The Trump Justice Department could bring the charges against Mr. Adams back.

“If I step down, the public advocate becomes the mayor,” Mr. Adams said Monday at a Brooklyn church rally. “Can you imagine turning over the city to him? That’s the top reason not to step down.”