Mayoral Removal

New York City lacks a clear, balanced system to remove a mayor for misconduct. An outlier among other major cities, NYC relies solely on the governor’s unchecked, ill-defined authority to oust a mayor. This glaring gap in oversight deprives New Yorkers of a crucial tool to hold the nation’s most powerful mayor accountable for abuses of power.
Citizens Union believes that an honest government requires strong, effective, mechanisms to hold elected officials accountable for misconduct, corruption, and abuse of power. Currently, the City Charter provides no such mechanism, and state law gives the governor the sole authority to remove a mayor. This power is both vague and unchecked. The absence of a defined process leaves the governor with excessive influence over the City’s leadership and New York City without a formal mechanism for mayoral removal. To address this problem, Citizens Union proposes creating a formal process for mayoral removal, ensuring a clear path to accountability when the public trust is broken.

Our Reform Agenda

Ensure grounds for removal are based solely on misconduct, not political differences
Require multiple majority thresholds to achieve removal, including a public vote
Conduct the entire removal process within a reasonable timeline to avoid disruption to government

Reform governor’s broad and unchecked removal powers to protect democratic safeguards, including clear charges and a public hearing

Ensure grounds for removal are based solely on misconduct, not political differences
Require multiple majority thresholds to achieve removal, including a public vote
Conduct the entire removal process within a reasonable timeline to avoid disruption to government

Reform governor’s broad and unchecked removal powers to protect democratic safeguards, including clear charges and a public hearing

Highlights:

Report April 9, 2025

Citizens Union Releases Report Proposing Mechanism for Removing the New York City Mayor for Misconduct

Report February 24, 2025

Citizens Union Calls on Charter Revision Commissions to Implement Bold Reforms to Strengthen Democracy and Government Accountability

Statement February 19, 2025

Citizens Union: Eric Adams Should No Longer Be Mayor of New York City

Recent Action on Mayoral Removal

Reports

February 24, 2025

Citizens Union Calls on Charter Revision Commissions to Implement Bold Reforms to Strengthen Democracy and Government Accountability

April 9, 2025

Citizens Union Releases Report Proposing Mechanism for Removing the New York City Mayor for Misconduct

All Reports

Statements

January 1, 1970

Testimonies

June 17, 2025

Mayoral Removal

Our Reform Agenda

Highlights:

Recent Action on Mayoral Removal

Reports

Citizens Union Calls on Charter Revision Commissions to Implement Bold Reforms to Strengthen Democracy and Government Accountability

Citizens Union Releases Report Proposing Mechanism for Removing the New York City Mayor for Misconduct

Statements

Document Test 2: for sub highlight on homepage

Citizens Union Applauds the Charter Commission for Embracing Key Accountability Reforms in New Report

Citizens Union: Eric Adams Should No Longer Be Mayor of New York City

Testimonies

Testimony to the 2025 Charter Commission for Local Democracy – Government Accountability Hearing

Testimony before the 2025 Charter Revision Commission – Government Reform February Hearing

Testimony before the 2025 Charter Revision Commission – Government Reform April Hearing

Mayoral Removal

Our Reform Agenda

Establish a clear process for removing a mayor from office for misconduct

Amend state law to establish clear grounds and guardrails for removal by Governor

Highlights:

Recent Action on Mayoral Removal

Reports

Statements

Testimonies