Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said Tuesday that Mayor Eric Adams must show a commitment to New York City’s values or consider stepping aside as calls for his removal intensify.

“We have to protect our values. And if the mayor can't send a message to us straightforward, that he's going to stand with us to preserve those values, then he may have to step aside,” Richards said during an interview on “Mornings On 1.”

Richards is a member of the five-person Inability Committee—which has the authority under the City Charter to remove the mayor if deemed incapacitated. Though, he acknowledged the committee was not explicitly designed for political controversies.

“I would think that legal experts will certainly say the Inability Committee was formed in the event that the mayor of the city of New York is incapacitated,” he said. “Right now, Eric Adams is still breathing. So, that will be up to legal scholars to determine.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul also has the ability to remove the mayor from office, though she is still weighing the possibility.

Meanwhile, a slew of Democratic officials in New York have been calling for Adams to resign, with Richards joining in Tuesday while expressing concerns about the city’s ability to function.

“At this moment, to ensure that we have a government that's functioning for the city of New York—as we see some of our greatest deputy mayors, some of whom I've known for over a decade, leaving the administration—Mayor Adams needs to show that this government is functioning,” he said.

When asked if he would participate in discussions about removing Adams, Richards said he would need to see more information.

“I, first of all, have not seen any of the evidence,” he said. “Maybe, perhaps, the Department of Investigation should speak to members and maybe bring us in internally to have some conversation. I'm not sure the feds would do that in this case,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we need to have a city that is functioning for all 8.3 million New Yorkers.”