Eric Adams tore into Andrew Cuomo Monday and claimed the ex-governor had the gall to ask the mayor to leave the Big Apple mayoral race — calling it the “highest level of arrogance.”
Adams revealed on CNBC that the pair of independent candidates recently had a conversation in which Cuomo asked the City Hall leader to bow out of the general election in a bid to help Cuomo beat socialist state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani in November.
But Adams said he strongly shot down that suggestion.
“I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogance?’ I’m the sitting mayor, the sitting mayor of the City of New York,” Adams claimed he told Cuomo.
“And you expect me to step aside when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points. He was up 32 points, $30 million dollars. You lost. They heard your message and you lost. Now let a fresh set of legs that has produced for this city. And that’s the highest level of arrogance.”
Adams, a registered Dem, passed up the chance to run in the Democratic primary, citing his legal woes while Cuomo was easily defeated by the 33-year-old Queens state assemblyman in last month’s election.
Since Mamdani’s stunning primary night victory, moderate Democrats and other political insiders have been considering next steps with the general election just four months away. Although Mamdani will appear on the Democratic line on November ballots, both Cuomo and Adams will appear independent lines.
GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa and another independent candidate, lawyer Jim Walden, are also running for mayor.
Cuomo’s campaign has said the ex-governor, who resigned in 2021 in the face of sexual harassment allegation he denied, is still weighing whether to go forward in the November election while Adams and his allies are turning up the pressure for Cuomo to drop out.
“I always say he didn’t have the legs to run in New York. New York is a competitive place. They want to see you,” Adams said on CNBC Monday.
“You can’t come out on weekends. You have to be firm. And I think he really should do an analysis and say, ‘Give Eric an opportunity to run against him.’”
Adams also insinuated Cuomo has a history of attempting to stymie black candidates from reaching elected office, including hurting Democratic state comptroller Carl McCall’s chances of reaching the governor’s mansion in 2002 when Cuomo ran on a third-party line.
“For him to see that I was on my own independent line prior to the race. And then for him to join it,” Adams claimed. “He knew he was setting us up for this.”
Cuomo’s campaign sent out a statement Monday arguing there is “no path to victory” for Adams.
“Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable,” a campaign spokesperson said. “Nothing has changed.”
A pro-Adams poll released last week still had Hizzoner trailing Cuomo by double-digit points.
But the poll shows Mamdani with a dominant 41% of the vote while Cuomo trailed with 26% and Adams garnered only 16%.
Adams and Cuomo would still appear on the ballot even if they decide not to mount a real campaign effort.
