Gov. Kathy Hochul said she won’t remove Mayor Eric Adams from office Thursday – but also wants guardrails to ensure he’s not compromised by President Trump.

A fiery Hochul announced a spate of ethics reforms to increase the state’s oversight powers over the embattled Adams amid what she called a “crisis situation” for New York City caused by Trump’s Department of Justice moving to dismiss the mayor’s corruption case.

The proposals sparked accusations that Hochul was trying to make a power grab of her own — and fit into a long tradition of New York governors and Big Apple mayors jockeying for control over the nation’s largest city.

But Hochul argued such steps were necessary to ensure that New York City’s “leaders are operating only with the city’s best interests in mind, unimpeded by any legal agreements with the Trump Justice Department.”

She proposed three actions:

The set of changes would expire at the end of 2025, although Hochul said they’d be subject to renewal.

Removing Adams from office – a prospect pushed by many lefty pols who argued the DOJ deal put Hizzoner under Trump’s thumb – would deprive voters their right to choose their leaders, she said.

“After careful consideration, I have determined that I will not commence removal proceedings at this time,” she said.

But Hochul pointedly didn’t slam the door shut on removing Adams in the future – emphasizing she was only not doing so “at this time.”

After Hochul’s address, Adams issued a statement that both subtly criticized the proposals and offered an olive branch to the governor.

“I was elected by the people of New York City and its working-class communities to uphold their values — and that is what our administration has done,” he said. While there is no legal basis for limiting New Yorkers’ power by limiting the authority of my office, I have told the governor, as we have done in the past, that I am willing to work with her to ensure faith in our government is strong. I look forward to continuing those conversations.”

Concerns over the DOJ’s move to toss the historic corruption and bribery case against Adams were amplified when a key federal prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, alleged that the dismissal explicitly came with an improper “quid pro quo” that the mayor would do the president’s bidding on immigration in exchange for the dropped charges. Adams has maintained his innocence and has said there was no “quid pro quo.”

Hochul this week convened a dramatic conclave of Democratic leaders to discuss what to do with the potentially compromised Adams, who saw four of his top deputy mayors submit their resignations en masse Monday.

She emerged with the proposals – which would require the City Council to send a home rule request, a move that requires a two-thirds majority, before it can head to Albany.

Whether the state Legislature would then pass the reforms was also unclear.

Leaders in the state Senate and Assembly were both taken off guard by the news of Hochul’s plans – and sources said they hadn’t initially been looped in by the governor’s office.

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said later Thursday that he had since been briefed and was reviewing the proposed legislation. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins was also briefed, Hochul said.

The proposals drew decidedly mixed reviews — and suggestions that Hochul might be bracing herself to potentially govern alongside ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo again, as he appears poised to jump into this year’s mayoral race.

Hochul denied to reporters that the potential entry of Cuomo to the race has any bearing on her decision-making process.

“She bought herself some time,” political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post.

“It got the enemies of Andrew Cuomo happy and made her life a little bit easier,” Sheinkopf said.

One Democratic state Senator, who asked not to be named, pooh-poohed Hochul’s proposal, calling it an “unimpressive gambit.”

“That’s a glorified fig leaf,” the lawmaker said.

Another political insider said Hochul’s decision to not remove Adams was based more on the unappealing prospect of elevating Public Advocate Jumaane Williams to mayor – as well as providing an opening for her predecessor Cuomo to run.

“Should she remove Adams, she knows Juamanne would be a disaster and to create a vacancy in the mayor’s Office to be filled in a special election would only propel the chances of Andrew Cuomo becoming mayor that much sooner,” the insider said.

The tension between Adams and Hochul contrasts with their largely warm and cooperative working relationship since Hizzoner took office in 2022.

Feuds and power struggles have been common between New York City mayors and state governors going back decades.

Former Mayor Ed Koch and Gov. Mario Cuomo tangled over state-approved pension sweeteners for which the city had to foot the bill during the 1980s. 

Cuomo also approved a law that allowed Staten Island to pursue secession from New York City, over the objections of both Koch and then-incoming Mayor David Dinkins. 

Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg both sparred with Gov. George Pataki in the 1990s and going into the 2000s. 

And former Mayor Bill de Blasio and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo took the animosity to new heights as they argued over everything from COVID lockdowns to state troopers in the Big Apple to NYCHA fixes.

Before Hochul’s announcement, a City Hall source pushed back against the rumored contours of her plan, telling The Post that Adams’ team viewed it as “adding bureaucracy.”

The source noted the proposal would duplicate the existing Department of Investigation watchdog’s responsibilities.

“We wouldn’t want to add any kind of red tape if we were in a situation like this,” the source said.

The proposals were ripped by the City Council’s “Common Sense Caucus.”

“Once again, feckless Kathy Hochul proves she lacks the courage and conviction to make any decision that would help New Yorkers and restore some modicum of confidence in our government,” the group said in a statement. “Instead, she proposes a blatant political power grab as a solution to a crisis she herself has created. We don’t need any more unnecessary bureaucracy in this city, and we certainly don’t need more litigation.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), who is eyeing a run for governor, by contrast accused Hochul of grandstanding with toothless proposals.

“Despite all the grandstanding, Governor Kathy Hochul never had any intention of holding the Mayor accountable.  

“The proposal for ‘legal sanctions’ fundamentally fails to address Donald Trump’s unprecedented political blackmail of a sitting Mayor,” he tweeted. “Instead of protecting NYC’s independence from Donald Trump, she is launching her own attack on the independence of the future Mayor.  

“The City of New York should proceed carefully before permanently ceding even more power to Albany.”

City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running for mayor, gave Hochul’s plan his seal of approval.

“While the best solution to restore public trust would be for Mayor Adams to resign and to keep the four deputy mayors in place instead, Governor Hochul’s new guardrails are useful to keep New York City moving forward in these precarious times,” he said.

It comes as Adams and New York City face an unprecedented leadership crisis prompted by President Trump’s Department of Justice controversially moving to drop the corruption case against the mayor.

The potential dismissal – which has yet to be approved by a Manhattan federal Judge Dale Ho – was widely seen as potentially putting Adams under Trump’s thumb.

Those concerns were amplified when a key federal prosecutor alleged that the dismissal explicitly came with an improper “quid pro quo” that Adams would do the president’s bidding on immigration in exchange for the dropped charges.