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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maya Yang

Eric Adams to endorse Andrew Cuomo in New York City mayoral race

two men speak while seated
Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo speak during the second half of an NBA basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. Photograph: Frank Franklin II/AP

The New York City mayor, Eric Adams, will endorse Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral race, following months of tension between the two Democrats turned independents.

Adams revealed his intention in an interview with the New York Times a month after he ended his own re-election campaign which saw him register poor polling numbers.

The race has been dominated so far by the fight between Cuomo, the former New York governor, and the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, whose rise in the polls has created headlines around the world and symbolised hopes for a rejuvenated left wing of the Democrats.

Just last month, Adams lashed out at Cuomo, calling him a “snake and a liar”, and accusing him of having “a career of pushing Black candidates out of races”. Despite that, Adams reversed course on Thursday, telling the New York Times that he now plans to campaign alongside Cuomo in neighborhoods where he maintains strong support.

“I think that it is imperative to really wake up the Black and brown communities that have suffered from gentrification on how important this race is,” Adams told the newspaper.

“They have watched their rents increase in terms of gentrification and they have been disregarded in those neighborhoods, and I’m going to go to those neighborhoods and speak one on one with organizers and groups and I’m going to walk with the governor in those neighborhoods and get them engaged,” he added.

At an unrelated press conference later on Thursday, Adams told reporters asking about the endorsement plan: “I’ll be with Andrew later today.”

The Guardian has reached out to Cuomo’s campaign for comment.

Adams’s interview with the Times took place a day after he and Cuomo were seen sitting courtside together at the New York Knicks’ season opener at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday evening. The game occurred right after a heated mayoral debate featuring Cuomo, Mamdani and the Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

During the debate, both Mamdani and Sliwa said they would refuse Adams’s endorsement.

Earlier this year, Adams launched his re-election campaign as an independent after being indicted on federal corruption charges which were later dismissed by Donald Trump in exchange for Adams’s cooperation with federal immigration raids across New York City.

In response to Adams’ endorsement of Cuomo, Mamdani took to X and wrote: “The Art of the Deal,” referring to Trump’s 1987 book.

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