NYC Mayor's Removal Demanded By 2 City Council Members

NEW YORK CITY — Two City Council members called for the removal of Mayor Bill de Blasio from office over his handling of recent protests and the coronavirus pandemic — measures that City Hall dismissed as "politically expedient background noise."

The separate resolutions introduced Thursday by City Council Members Carlos Menchaca of Brooklyn and Eric Ulrich of Queens call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove de Blasio.

Both accuse the mayor of failing to maintain order and protect the public during recent police brutality protests across New York City, spurred by George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police — though they differ sharply in their reasoning.

Menchaca's resolution states the mayor "endangered the public welfare" by enacting a citywide curfew, failed to hold police accountable for their treatment of peaceful protesters and "failed to commit resources appropriately" to help the city cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Mayor de Blasio’s failure to work with the City Council on a budget that ensures a just and equitable recovery, and his failure to truly hold the police accountable for its brutal response to New Yorkers protesting police brutality, underscore his unfitness for office, and thousands of New Yorkers have taken to the streets to voice their displeasure by calling on Mayor de Blasio to resign," Menchaca wrote in a Medium post about his resolution.

In contrast, Ulrich's resolution accuses the mayor of not going far enough to "restore order" during the days and nights of protests by not calling in the National Guard.

"Mayor de Blasio has not effectively maintained public order during this period of social unrest, resulting in the looting and destruction of businesses large and small and chaos on the streets for many days," Ulrich's resolution says.

"By failing to maintain order and exercise good judgment to ensure public safety, Mayor de Blasio has failed to perform the most fundamental duty of his office and cannot be trusted to do so in the future."

Addressing the City Council on Thursday, Speaker Corey Johnson acknowledged the resolutions and the underlying concerns but said his priorities lie elsewhere.

"The mayor was elected twice democratically," Johnson said. "I want us to focus on how we can get help to New Yorkers."

New York's governor has the authority to remove the mayor under section 33 of the Public Officers Law and section 9 of the Charter, according to Menchaca and Ulrich.

The move would be unprecedented, according to Cuomo, who has previously said displacing the mayor would "only make a bad situation worse."

“The mayor was elected – and then elected again – overwhelmingly by the people of this city," Freddi Goldstein, the mayor's press secretary, said in an emailed statement Thursday. "His focus is on serving them, not the politically expedient background noise."