Eric Adams unloads on NYC mayoral opponent Andrew Cuomo in fiery rant: ‘Why is he in my race?'

New York Post

22-04-2025

Mayor Eric Adams ripped former Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday for 'taking votes' from him — as he pushed back against the possibility that his independent run for reelection will help a far-left candidate come out on top.
Adams made the fiery comments after The Post asked him about fears that he and Cuomo would split the vote of moderate Democrats, boosting a lefty mayoral hopeful like Zohran Mamdani or Brad Lander in the November general election.
4 'Why is he in my race?' said Adams of Cuomo.
Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
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'He's taking votes away from me — I'm the mayor! Why is he in my race?' Hizzoner fumed about Cuomo.
'It's almost like when you have a house somewhere and someone is trying to move in — it's like, go find your own house.'
Adams' emboldened take, which he laid out during his weekly press briefing at City Hall, came on the heels of two attorneys launching a super PAC to support the formerly indicted mayor's reelection bid.
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Dubbed 'Empower NYC,' the PAC — which operates separately from Adams' campaign and which was started by civil rights attorneys Abe George and Eric Lerner — praised his decision to run as an independent.
'The Mayor has effectively skipped the playoffs and gone straight to the championship. That means Empower NYC can focus its energy and resources on the race that will actually decide the future of this city,' George, the PAC chairman and a longtime ally of the mayor, said in a statement shared with The Post.
4 A new Super PAC has formed to support the Mayor in re-election: Empower NYC.
Matthew McDermott
Speculation has been swirling as to whether a four-party ballot in November's mayoral race could end in a major upset for moderate Dems — who may split votes between Adams and Cuomo.
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4 Ex-Gove Cuomo missed out on the last round of matching funds with the Campaign Finance Board
AFP via Getty Images
The theory hinges on the super-left Working Families Party successfully adding one of their endorsed candidates to the ballot line — namely Mamdani, the socialist state Assemblyman from Queens who is polling second behind Cuomo for the Democratic primary nomination.
Adams has raised $4.4 million in donations without taxpayer matching funds, which the city's Campaign Finance Board denied him while he was under indictment.
Hizzoner still owes a whopping $3 million to his high-profile attorney Alex Spiro for the bribery case that was dropped in early April.
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4 Zohran Mamdani is consistently polling 2nd for the democratic nomination behind Andrew Cuomo.
Michael Nagle
Cuomo has raised $1.5 million in private donations and over $2 million from a super PAC — but the ex-gov missed out on the last round of matching funds due to an administrative fumble.
Mamdani has maxed out his campaign funds at over $8 million with the CFB match.