Mayor Eric Adams at an April 1, 2025 press convention at Metropolis Corridor.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Embattled Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday stepped up assaults in opposition to these difficult his re-election within the 2025 NYC mayor’s race, lashing out at two candidates who’re beating him within the polls: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani.
Mayor Adams was set off when requested about Cuomo’s view that extra state-level modifications to make it simpler for town to involuntarily hospitalize mentally sick folks, which he has been pushing for, are pointless. Particularly, the mayor gave the impression to be bothered by Cuomo, who indicated that the issue was a results of Adams’ personal mismanagement.
Adams responded by charging that it’s really Cuomo who mismanaged a slew of points throughout his 11 years as governor.
“Like the management that he did with the nursing homes, or the management he did when he was not having all communities, particularly Black and brown communities, get the vaccine, or the management he did with arguing with [former Mayor] Bill de Blasio that we didn’t have a test site up at [Citi Field],” Adams mentioned.
The mayor was referring to criticisms that Cuomo was accountable for New York’s excessive COVID-19 nursing residence demise price, didn’t equitably distribute coronavirus vaccines to Black and brown communities, and a Politico report that he witheld vaccines from a Citi Subject testing web site as a part of a 2021 dispute with de Blasio. He additionally took purpose at Cuomo for chopping funding to a now-defunct state housing voucher program that he mentioned made “homelessness spike” within the metropolis and signing reforms to the state’s money bail system into legislation.
Cuomo’s marketing campaign has repeatedly refuted that he mishandled COVID-19 in nursing properties — stating that he adopted federal tips and was politically focused by the primary Trump administration. Moreover, they contend Cuomo opened vaccine websites in neighborhoods of shade throughout town; didn’t withhold vaccines from the Citi Subject web site, however somewhat had exhausted its provide on account of federal supply-chain points; and changed the housing voucher program with others that obtained extra funding.
‘Management’ expertise questioned
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to Native 237 teamsters throughout a rally for Mayor on March, 6, 2025.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Adams additionally questioned how Cuomo would handle somebody with obvious psychological sickness on the subways if he had been to strategy them in particular person and blasted his use of a slideshow presentation in an interview with the New York Submit editorial board final month.
“Ask him when was the last time that he was on the subway alone?” Adams mentioned. “Ask him, when did he walk up to a person with no shoes on, no shirt on, in the dead of winter, yelling and screaming, about to push someone on the tracks?…How would he manage that?”
In response, Cuomo spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi straight responded to the mayor’s accusations in a press release, saying it was what he characterised as the previous governor’s robust administration that yielded his successes in workplace.
“It is management Mr. Mayor: management like keeping your fiscal house in order with a 2% spending cap; management like building infrastructure projects like the Second Avenue Subway and LaGuardia Airport; management like raising wages for millions of New Yorkers; and, yes, management like leading the world through COVID,” Azzopardi mentioned. “It is management — something you and de Blasio know nothing about.”
“But hey, like we said last week when the mayor went on his last unhinged rant, desperate men — particularly ones acting as an agent of Trump — say desperate things,” he added, referring to the mayor’s heat relationship with the Trump administration.
‘Pie in the sky’
Queens Meeting member and Democratic socialist candidate for mayor Zohran MamdaniPhoto by Gabriele Holtermann
Cuomo was not the one competitor who entered Adams’ sights on Tuesday. He additionally went out of his solution to assault Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and one among Adams’ sharpest critics.
Particularly, the mayor slammed Mamdani’s newly launched public security plan, which requires establishing a brand new metropolis company that will take over sure duties at present below the NYPD’s purview. Mamdani envisions his “Department of Community Safety” as a non-police company assigned to deal with psychological well being on the subways, stem gun violence, and provide providers for victims.
Mamdani mentioned establishing the brand new company, which might have a funds of $1.1 billion, wouldn’t have an effect on the NYPD’s present funding stage. He added that the funds can be partially funded by $400 million in new income that might be raised from tax hikes on the wealthiest New Yorkers.
When requested in regards to the proposal, Adams mocked the Meeting Member as “Defund the Police Mamdani,” whereas insisting his personal policing-focused strategy to public security has been profitable. He additionally solid the plan as unrealistic, given its price ticket.
“All the sudden, he wants to talk about more community policing, something that I cut my teeth on,” he mentioned. ““For him to say that he wants a billion-dollar tax on New Yorkers, you know that hurts the economy. … These pie in the sky’s ideas that people are running prior to coming into the real work of running a city of this level of complexity, it’s just unrealistic.”
Mamdani hit again in a social media submit the place he mocked Adams for the lease will increase on stabilized tenants which have occurred throughout his time in workplace. He additionally issued a press release blasting the mayor for resorting to “nicknames and lies” somewhat than confronting public security issues.
“Meanwhile, I have released a comprehensive evidenced-based plan that will address violence and crime at its source, deploy trained mental health crisis responders across our subway system, relieve the excessive burden we’ve placed on police officers, and keep New Yorkers safe,” Mamdani mentioned. “It’s time to turn the page on Eric Adams’ four years of failed governance and elect leadership that takes these issues seriously.”
