A day after new reports surfaced that he may be considering dropping his reelection bid, Mayor Eric Adams hit the ground running hard in the Bronx, meeting voters and campaigning across the borough.
«I’m campaigning, not complaining. I’m campaigning,» the mayor told reporters.
What You Need To Know
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- Mayor Adams claimed his campaign is being «sabotaged»
- A source told NY1 that Adams raised the possibility of dropping out in a meeting with business leaders
- Adams said previously the talk of him dropping out is hurting his fundraising
«I am being just sabotaged,» Adams said.
He claims the saboteur is the reporting that White House officials are considering finding a job for him in exchange for dropping out.
A source also revealed to NY1 that Adams told business leaders this week he’d consider dropping out after he conducts some internal polling.
«These rumors have impacted my ability to raise money and it has undermined my campaign and it has taken the ability of me getting my message out away from the voters,» Adams said.
So, Adams met the voters. First, he visited a food pantry.
«I like him because he’s after the criminals and he’s supporting the police,» Bronx voter George Clark told NY1.
Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., said, «He’s effective and efficient. He’s consistently on his job.»
Both men plan to vote for him. But to other voters, it’s the scandals that they remember.
«Overall he was OK,» Walter King said. But sometimes, «I’m like, ‘you gotta be kidding me,’ sometimes.»
King said he’d still give him a chance.
Next stop, a senior center, where he got a warm reception when addressing the audience.
«When I think about the 23,000 illegal guns taken off the street, I think of you and our children,» he said.
Anita Best said the mayor doesn’t get the credit he’s due.
«They always say bad things about him but he does a lot of good things,» she said.
Best doesn’t care much for the polls showing him in last place — she’s still going to vote for him.
As for her friends?
«My friends, some of them. Some not. But he’s got my vote,» Best said.
Adams then addressed a mosque where he talked about Zohran Mamdani, the liberal Democratic nominee who is Muslim.
Adams brought up Mamdani, who has said, «sex work is work,» and wants to decriminalize it.
«As Muslims, you don’t believe in prostitution. This candidate does,» Adams told the audience. «I’m not a new friend, brothers. I am an old friend. An old friend who has been consistent throughout the years. So the Muslim that’s running for mayor, ask him, where has he been?»
It made an impression on Alhousseuine Sanoura, who listened to Adams.
«I think the mayor is ready for another run,» he said.
As for Mamdani’s support for decriminalizing prostitution, «I never heard of that,» Sanoura said. «That matters a lot, as far as Muslims. That’s definitely not supported.»
«What you heard today, inside this mosque, is what I hear all over the city,» Adams said.
He’s hopeful it’s the message that could make a campaign worth it.
