Brooklyn Democratic Councilman Carlos Menchaca and Councilman Eric Ulrich, a Republican from Queens, unveiled two separate resolutions Thursday calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove Mayor Bill de Blasio from office for failing to maintain public safety and order in New York City.
“After seven years of failed leadership, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent spectacle of police brutality have revealed Mayor de Blasio to be the single greatest obstacle to peace and justice in New York City,” Menchaca wrote in a post on Medium.
“He must resign, or the Council must remove him from office, if we are to create a fair and just people’s budget that defunds the NYPD and joins a national movement to re-imagine public safety — not as punishment through police and prisons, but as community investment, starting with a pandemic recovery plan for all New Yorkers,” he continued.
Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid Island) expressed frustration with the mayor’s leadership but cautioned that removing him from office might not be a better alternative.
“Obviously I have serious concerns with the Mayor’s leadership and the current direction of this city, and I know many of my constituents share those concerns. However, the reality is that we may not be happy with the alternative if the Mayor were to be removed from office before the end of his term,” Matteo said. “Either way, I look forward to working for the election of a new Mayor next year that shares the values and views of Staten Islanders.”
Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) said he’s had enough of the mayor but did not say whether he would support the resolutions.
“I think I speak for Staten Islanders of all political stripes when I say that we may have had enough of Mayor de Blasio,” Borelli said.
Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) declined to comment on the resolutions.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a Democrat, said that there were those on both sides of the political spectrum who are “fed up” with the de Blasio administration, but said he wanted to let the resolutions run their course through the legislative process before saying whether he planned to support them.
“The mayor was elected twice democratically, I will continue to be a loud critic when necessary as you’ve always seen, and I want us to focus on how we can be of service to New Yorkers,” Johnson told reporters during a press conference Thursday.
However, he said he had concerns about the mayor’s handling of recent police accountability protests across the city and coronavirus pandemic.
“The mayor was elected – and then elected again – overwhelmingly by the people of this city. His focus is on serving them, not the politically expedient background noise,” said the mayor’s Press Secretary Freddi Goldstein.
Cuomo’s office did not respond to requests for comment to this story at press time.
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