Will Hochul have the courage to fire Mamdani if ​​he destroys New York City?

if Zahran Mamdani A mayor is elected and implements the changes he promised, and the city’s finances and public safety are expected to deteriorate rapidly.

Think of the criminal bedlam as anti-Semitic rioters allowed the city’s basic services to be curbed and curtailed.

In such a crisis, desperate New Yorkers will look to Albany — because under state law, the governor has nearly unlimited power to limit the power of the city’s mayor, or even remove him, even if no crime has been committed.

It’s a safety valve, if the ruler has enough backbone to use it.

The law requires the governor to file grievances against the mayor in a formal hearing before he is actually removed from office.

However, the Governor’s decision is final, and is not subject to review by any court. The New York State Supreme Court calls it “the power of mere removal.”

If the mayor is removed, a special election must be held within 80 days. Until then, the public defender holds the position of mayor.

The question is: Is it? Governor Kathy Hochul Does she have the courage to use her power to protect the city, or is she sacrificing New Yorkers by appeasing the socialist wing of her party?

This is expected to be a major issue in the 2026 gubernatorial election, when a Republican challenger is likely to insist on an answer.

Currently, Hoochul is getting closer to Mamdani, He praised it as “very plausible.” And hinting that it would find $10 billion in the state budget to fund his long list of promised freebies.

These are happy words.

The state faces a $10 billion annual deficit, and Budget Director Blake Washington is calling for belt tightening across the board.

And why should the rest of the state bear responsibility for the bad decisions made by city voters?

Mamdani has promised to close Rikers Island and put thousands of violent prisoners on the streets.

Meanwhile, cops will quit in droves, predict former NYPD commissioners Bill Bratton and Ray Kelly.

While crime rates rise, financial mismanagement will force the city to cut back on basic services like sanitation and what remains of police protection.

Mamdani promises $6 billion a year for child care and $652 million a year for free bus service — yet the city is already facing a $17.1 billion deficit during Mamdani’s first three years on the City Council. without Free fairy tales added, says State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

For half a century, since New York City’s financial collapse in 1975, New Yorkers have been comforted by the knowledge that a state-run fiscal control board was formed to prevent the city from overspending and sinking into financial ruin.

But the guardrails have turned into tissue paper under one-party rule in Albany.

Reactivating the Financial Supervision Bureau requires the approval of the legislative authority.

good luck. Top legislative leaders, all Democrats, have endorsed Mamdani.

So, at this point, there’s nothing preventing the city from going bankrupt or descending into criminal chaos — except the constitutional power of impeachment.

This authority was activated in 1932, when then-Gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for a hearing to remove corrupt New York City Mayor Tammany Hall Jimmy Walker.

Walker challenged Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts in court and lost.

The court ruled that the governor’s power was “unlimited.” that it “The power of mere elimination” The justices said it was under the state constitution.

The case was so open and shut that Walker never bothered to appeal. When he saw that he was about to be overthrown, he resigned and fled to Europe.

Many new rulers have cited the law without actually following it.

In 2020, when Mayor Bill de Blasio allowed anti-police rioters to take over the streets, then-Gov. “Technically the governor can fire the mayor,” Andrew Cuomo said — but added he was not ready to take that step.

Hochul herself thought about using the removal power yet Indictment of Mayor Eric Adams.

Michigan and Florida also empower their governors to fire mayors for negligence or improper management, not just illegal acts.

Ousting a democratically elected official is a serious business, but almost every state has a constitutional mechanism for removing an incompetent or unfit mayor.

Some states favor impeachment, others empower the legislature to decide.

As long as impeachment is immediately followed by another election, voters have the final say.

Citizens United, a nonpartisan good governance group in New York City, finds “potential democratic harm to the removal of a duly elected official representing more than 8 million people,” but concludes that the power to remove a governor is essential.

The organization is proposing an amendment that would ensure that the mayor has the right to a due process hearing, and that the hearing takes place within seven days.

However, the final decision will still rest with the governor.

The New York Democratic Party has been hijacked by the Democratic Socialists of America, largely with out-of-state money and manpower.

Mamdani’s extreme anti-capitalist, anti-police, and anti-Semitism promises, if implemented, threaten the survival of the city’s economy and the safety of its residents, especially Jewish New Yorkers.

The power to remove a governor was created for such rare circumstances.

It is important that Hochul – or her successor – has the courage to use it when needed.

Betsy McCaughey is the former Lieutenant Governor of New York State and co-founder of SAVENYC.org.