Mayor Adams doubled down on his new mental health policy that calls for city cops to bring homeless people involuntarily for psychiatric evaluation and potentially commit them to a hospital, and slammed a legal challenge as politically driven.

“It is really unfortunate that we are trying to use our political motivation to get in the way of motivating people to take care of those individuals,” the centrist Democrat told CNN’s Michael Smerconish Saturday, without offering specifics.

The mayor was responding to questions about legal papers filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court by a coalition of lawyers and activists seeking to immediately halt the plan’s implementation.

The group, which included New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, seeks a temporary restraining order to block the rollout of the policy, on the basis that it would violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the New York City human rights law. 

Many progressive Democratic pols and groups, including the Legal Aid Society and New York Civil Liberties Union, have likewise criticized the policy.

However, Adams shot back at his critics saying his program is not police-driven — even though cops will be heavily involved.

“Everyone knows my [earlier] comments were clear: we are not taking everyone that has a mental illness into custody,” he said. “We are not arresting people, so all of this hysteria that is being raised is totally in conflict with New Yorkers.

“New Yorkers overwhelmingly understand we cannot leave our citizens on the street.”

Asked if he’s ready to be judged both in New York and nationally over the success of the program, Adams said: “I did not become the mayor to climb a hill, I became mayor to climb a mountain.”

“I ran towards gunshots as a cop,” boasted Adams, a retired NYPD captain. “I am going to run towards problems we are facing in this city.”