Mayor Eric Adams will not be at the first Democratic primary debate in the 2025 NYC mayor’s race on Wednesday night because he is running as an independent in the general election.
But if he were attending, Hizzoner told reporters at City Hall Tuesday, he would ask frontrunner Andrew Cuomo one question: “Where is your consistency?”
During his weekly news conference on June 3, Mayor Adams insisted that Cuomo is now running on reversing many of the actions he took during his 11-year tenure as governor — a position he resigned from in 2021 amid numerous allegations of sexual misconduct that he denies.
The mayor contended that as governor, Cuomo contributed to many of the city’s problems that he now says he will address if he is elected to City Hall.
Hizzoner slammed Cuomo over pledging to advocate for a $20 minimum wage in the city, after rejecting a similar proposal from former Mayor Bill de Blasio over a decade ago; saying he will address the city’s overlapping homelessness and mental health crises, even though he defunded a crucial state housing voucher program in 2011 and took pyschiatric beds offline; and promising to crackdown on crime, despite signing the 2019 bail reform laws that some say say made the city less safe.
“I spent so much time fixing the governor’s mess,” Adams said. “I had to correct what he put in place. And now he reached the point that, I mean, he would say any and everything to get elected. How about just being honest?”
The mayor is hardly the only candidate to argue that Cuomo’s campaign is at odds with many of his own actions as governor.
Other top contenders — including Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, who is in second place; City Comptroller Brad Lander; and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — also charge that Cuomo hurt the city through his policies in Albany.
Mayor Adams also took aim at Cuomo’s upbringing as the son of the late former Gov. Mario Cuomo, arguing that he hails from a “dynasty” and thus had advantages most other elected officials do not. Furthermoe, Adams said Cuomo’s background has allowed him to coast on his father’s name and stay in a “cocoon” that has sheilded him from scrutiny.
“He never really had to campaign for anything. The Cuomo name goes so far because people really adored his dad,” Adams said. “He was always allowed to be in his cocoon. No one’s really had to scrutinize him. He’s always moved from one location to another location with this whole cocoon…It’s so easy to pick up the phone and call people when you are a Cuomo. You really are so far ahead of so many people.”
Cuomo camp calls Adams the ‘MAGA mayor’
In response to Adams, top Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said, “Eric Adams is understandably going through the five stages of grief as the end of his failed tenure as mayor is near.”
“At least he’s not in the middle of a federal corruption trial – which is exactly what would be happening right now if he didn’t sell out the city to Trump,” he continued, referring to Adams’ federal corruption case that was dismissed by a federal judge at the behest of Trump’s DOJ in April. He was also referencing widespread allegations that Adams’ attorneys engaged in a quid pro quo with the DOJ to have his charges dropped.
“I wish the MAGA mayor the best of luck in whatever future cabinet position he gets in the Trump administration,” Azzopardi added.
Azzopardi also fought back against Adams’ specific claims, noting that Cuomo was the one who passed the $15 minimum wage statewide in 2016, he replaced the housing voucher program with others that exceeded its budget, the beds he took off-line did not serve the individuals involved in the court system, and that Adams had four years to get under control and has not done so.
The mayor stepped up his attacks on Cuomo just three weeks ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary. Cuomo has led the crowded Democratic field in every poll on the race, but a survey released last week showed Mamdani appears to be closing the gap.
While the incumbent Adams is sitting out the primary after opting to run as an independent in November instead, he has been attacking Cuomo with increasing frequency.
If Cuomo is the Democratic nominee, he and Adams will face off in November, along with presumptive Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and attorney Jim Walden, who is also running as an independent. Cuomo has also filed an independent line to run on in November, which he will hold even if he is the Democratic nominee.
The progressive Working Families Party has also committed to run its own candidate in the general election if Cuomo is the Democratic nominee.
Adams and Cuomo are both moderates who will be competing for the same Democratic voting blocs, while also seeking to win over some Republican support. The mayor’s recent broadsides appear aimed at chipping away at Cuomo’s support even before the primary is decided.
