Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are in a high-stakes staring contest

Politico

4 days ago

The killing of officer Didarul Islam has placed renewed scrutiny on Mamdani's prior support of slashing police budgets and his calls to disband a unit that responded to the shooting at a Manhattan office building.
Cuomo's campaign strategy in recent weeks has been to focus on Mamdani's far-left platform on policing, taxes and government spending — all of which the former governor says is out of step with most New Yorkers. Cuomo believes that shining a light on his rival's plans for the city would weaken his poll numbers.
Support for Mamdani has been durable in the month since his primary win, though. And with Adams and Cuomo alike acknowledging this race isn't big enough for the both of them, the dynamic has alarmed the city's donor class as the feud spills over into competing trips to the Hamptons on Long Island — a summertime playground for the city's wealthiest residents.
Adams and Cuomo have made sojourns to the eastern end of Long Island this summer to court supporters, with the former governor going as far as to joke he would leave for Florida if Mamdani became mayor.
The jibe, though, spoke to a larger anxiety for rich New Yorkers: Mamdani wants permission from Albany to sharply raise their taxes to fund his campaign promises like free bus service and government-run grocery stores.
As a result, most of these donors find Mamdani's left-wing politics and criticism of Israel anathema. Those with the deepest pockets, like billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave more than $8 million to a pro-Cuomo super PAC, remain on the sidelines. Placing another bet on Cuomo — who lost to Mamdani by a stunning 12 points in the Democratic primary — or backing Adams, who has polled in single digits in some surveys, is a heavy lift.
'Right now the business class, when it comes to the mayoral election, they're sitting in stunned disbelief,' Paterson said in an interview. 'They can't recognize that this actually happened.'
The uncertainty among business leaders gives Cuomo some time to make his case that Adams should leave the race in order to consolidate support behind him over the mayor, who trails Sliwa in some polls. Even as super PACs proliferate this summer — mostly with the intent of stopping Mamdani — donors remain nervous.