With Adams out of NYC mayoral race, Mamdani zeroes in on Cuomo

MANHATTAN (CN) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has suspended his longshot reelection campaign — just weeks after promising to see it “through to the very end.”

Adams, who was consistently polling in fourth place throughout the race, announced his exit from the crowded general election field on Sunday with an eight-minute video on social media taken from the staircase at Gracie Mansion.

Flanked by a large photograph of his late mother, the former NYPD captain blamed the media and the city’s campaign finance board for kneecapping his ability to pick up steam with New Yorkers. 

“The constant media speculation about my future and the campaign finance board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign,” Adams said in the clip.

Adams’ exit has been rumored for months amid his dismal polling and his rumored relationship with the Trump administration, which infamously dropped a scathing federal corruption indictment that charged the mayor with taking bribes from Turkish government officials and scamming New York City’s matching fund program for small-dollar campaign donations.

The Justice Department’s abrupt decision to ax the case triggered a wave of resignations in the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office. Former top prosecutor of the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, said Adams’ attorneys met with high-ranking officials and discussed dismissing the charges in exchange for his cooperation with immigration authorities.

Adams has baselessly claimed that the indictment was political retaliation from former President Joe Biden for speaking out against his immigration policies — a claim he stuck with in his Sunday announcement.

“I also know some remain unsure of me after the unfortunate events surrounding my federal case,” Adams said. “I was wrongfully charged because I fought for this city and if I had to do it again, I would fight for New York again.”

Since the indictment was dropped, Adams has avoided criticizing President Donald Trump and the administration, fueling speculation of collaboration between New York City and the federal government.

Additionally, Adams was reportedly offered a federal job in the administration to bow out of the race — seemingly part of a larger effort from Trump to involve himself in his home city’s mayoral race. 

A Queens native, Trump has been outspoken in his distaste for the current frontrunner: proud democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblymember who won the Democratic primary in stunning fashion. 

Per numerous reports, the president is trying to coalesce conservative and centrist support to manufacture a one-on-one race between Mamdani and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who lost the primary to Mamdani but still appears to be his strongest challenger. 

On Monday, Trump levied another attack on “communist Zohran Mamdani,” calling him “one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party. 

“He is going to have problems with Washington like no mayor in the history of our once great city,” Trump said in a social media post. “Remember, he needs the money from me, as president, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?”

Adams’ exit alone is unlikely to topple Mamdani’s big lead on his opponents. While it could give a slight bump to Cuomo, it could also help the third-place candidate, Republican activist Curtis Sliwa, who has repeatedly insisted that he won’t drop out of the race, even at Trump’s behest.

It remains unclear if Adams will now be taking a job with the Trump administration, but he suggested that his days in government are far from over.

“Although this is the end of my reelection campaign, it is not the end of my public service,” he said Sunday. “I will continue to fight for this city as I have for 40 years since the day I joined the NYPD to make our streets safer and our systems fairer.”

“I will keep fighting for the city no matter what, from city hall or beyond,” Adams added.

He stopped short from endorsing any of his mayoral opponents, but appeared to jab at Mamdani and warned that “extremism is growing” in the United States.

“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer [is] to destroy the very system we built together over generations,” he said. “That is not change, that is chaos. Instead I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promise but by what they have delivered.”

Mamdani took the announcement in stride, using it as an opportunity to bash Cuomo.

“Andrew Cuomo, you got your wish,” Mamdani said in an Instagram video posted Sunday. “You wanted Trump and your billionaire friends to help you clear the field. But don’t forget, you wanted me as your opponent in the primary, too, and we beat you by 13 points.”

Adams, who won as a Democrat four years ago but ran his reelection as an independent, is now officially a one-term mayor. He touted his tenure as one that lowered crime, built record amounts of housing and pulled the city out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But Adams’ administration is likely to be remembered most as one that was dogged by scandal and controversy. While he may now be free from criminal charges, the same can’t be said for his several top aides and appointees who were indicted or forced to resign for corruption and self-dealing — including his former deputy mayor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin.

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