As Mayor Eric Adams became the first sitting mayor in modern New York history to face indictment, calls for his resignation intensified — from the usual detractors on the Democratic Party’s left flank to at least one elected official once considered his ally.

The mayor insisted on Wednesday night that he would not resign, saying in filmed remarks that the charges were “entirely false, based on lies.” He said he had become a “target” because he “stood my ground” for New Yorkers — and appeared to suggest, without presenting any evidence, that the federal case against him was politically motivated, saying the “federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system.”

Adams made those comments before any details of charges were yet known. The Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment Thursday morning, alleging Adams violated campaign laws by trading favors for benefits from foreign nationals.

Here are some notable reactions to the mayor’s indictment so far.

Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t say much.

Hours after the New York Times broke the news of the mayor’s pending indictment — which was still sealed at the time, with no information on specific charges yet made public — Hochul issued a statement through a spokesperson saying she was “aware of these concerning news reports,” and would be following the unfolding developments closely. Under the city charter, the governor has the power to remove Adams from office in the event that he is criminally charged.

“It would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement,” Avi Small, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement late Wednesday.

Hochul and Adams have enjoyed a much more amicable relationship than that of their predecessors, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and have aligned on certain issues like public safety.

All but one of Adams’ 2025 challengers called on him to resign.

The cadre of Democrats who have either announced mayoral exploratory committees or have formally declared their candidacies against Adams jumped at the opportunity to lay into him — with all but one, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, calling on him to resign by mid-morning Thursday.

Scott Stringer, Adams’ former adversary in the 2021 Democratic primary, was the first to call for the mayor’s resignation on Wednesday night.

“The mayor needs to resign for the good of the city,” Stringer posted on social media. “His legal fight is not our fight.”

And minutes later, Brad Lander — the city comptroller and a frequent progressive foil to the mayor — said on social media that Adams’ legal fight would sap up much of “the time and attention needed to govern this great city,” and that “the most appropriate path forward is for him to step down.” If Adams were to resign, Lander would also be two steps down the mayoral line of succession.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie took an apparent jab at one of Adams’ familiar refrains. “We need a leader who is fully focused, without distraction, on the enormous challenges we face — from housing affordability to public safety,” Myrie said on X. “A mayor under the weight of a serious indictment can no longer do that — and today I am calling on him to resign.”

Ramos, the furthest left politically of all of Adams’ current challengers, said New Yorkers “should not ignore these allegations of corruption” against the mayor — but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

“Weeks of FBI raids, indictments, and resignations have shaken our city. Right now, New Yorkers feel frustrated and abandoned. This, above all else, is unforgivable,” she said on social media. “A new day for our city is long overdue.”

Supporters and allies begin calls for Adams to resign.

City Councilmember Bob Holden, a conservative Queens Democrat who co-chairs the Council’s Common Sense Caucus, called for Adams’ resignation shortly after news of the indictment broke.

Holden and other members of the caucus — which is made up of Republicans and other conservative Democrats — have previously aligned with Adams in the Council on issues like public safety and criminal justice. Holden called the news a “sad day for NYC.”

“While [Adams] is presumed innocent until proven guilty, there is no way he can effectively lead with this cloud hanging over him,” Holden wrote on X. “With the challenges we face, he must step down for the good of New Yorkers.”

State Sen. John Liu, a Democrat who supported Adams’ 2021 campaign for mayor, also said the mayor is innocent until proven guilty but doubted his ability to govern effectively given his federal case.

“It would be impossible for any human being to fight the charges with full throttle and at the same time run the city in a way that it needs to be managed and led,” Liu told WNYC on Thursday morning.

Jumaane Williams, who would become acting mayor if Adams resigns, hasn’t said much — yet.

Jumaane Williams, who according to the city’s succession rules would be first in line to take on the role of acting mayor if Adams steps down, called news of the indictment “incredibly serious” Wednesday night. And Thursday, as details emerged, he called the chaos swarming City Hall “an untenable situation.”

“It is federal officials’ obligation to prove their case, it is the mayor’s obligation to prove to New Yorkers that there is a real plan and path to govern the city effectively and regain trust, and his time to show that plan is rapidly running out,” Williams said in a statement early Thursday afternoon.

Williams has been freely critical of the mayor in the past, as an elected official whose function is both a counterbalance to the mayor and a progressive whose prescribed worldview often clashes with the mayor’s.

Council speaker doesn’t quite call for a resignation.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — who’s often had a contentious relationship with the mayor, but made an effort to work with him on some initiatives — said Thursday that this is “a painful time and a distraction” for City Hall and government employees.

“I ask the mayor to seriously and honestly consider whether full attention can be given to deserving New Yorkers who need our government to be sound and stable,” she said. But she didn’t explicitly call for Mayor Adams to resign.

Left-leaning Democrats are clamoring for Mayor Adams’ resignation.

Progressive Democrats and their allies were among the first to call for Mayor Adams’ resignation — even before news of the coming indictment. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew the mayor’s ire when she publicly called for him to step down on Wednesday afternoon.

“For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo — without even a single charge being filed — is the height of hypocrisy,” Adams said in a statement.

News of the indictment broke hours later.

The successor to Mayor Adams’ previous office, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, joined the chorus demanding his resignation on Thursday afternoon, saying the mayor “cannot lead this city, nor can he in good faith ask the public to put their trust in him.”

New York’s influential Working Families Party swiftly called on Mayor Adams to resign following news of the indictment on Wednesday night. A statement from the City Council’s Progressive Caucus quoted a past Mayor Adams statement that he’s determined despite investigations of his administration to “stay focused, no distractions, and grind,” and added: “But no one can be focused with this constant stream of distractions. The only thing he’s grinding is our city to a halt.”

Several progressive councilmembers who have adversarial relationships with the mayor, such as Lincoln Restler, also called on Adams to step aside. And some others appeared jubilant — Councilmember Shahana Hanif posted a picture on social media of the Times’ indictment story on another person’s phone, with a post that read, “My 2025 re-election campaign kickoff went well!”

This story has been updated with additional comment from political leaders.