NYC police unions join forces to endorse in heated mayoral election — with all signs pointing to ex-cop Adams getting the nod: sources
New York City police unions will not endorse in the increasingly heated Democratic mayoral primary — but all signs point to incumbent Eric Adams getting the nod from the massive cop coalition come the general election, The Post has learned.
The newly formed NYC Uniformed Forces Coalition 2025 met for the first time Tuesday, bringing together leaders of all the city's police unions, as well as correction and sanitation officers and supervisors, according to sources with knowledge of the sitdown.
Sources said the blue line bloc was created to bolster the unions' influence in the mayoral race. The alliance plans to bring in mayoral candidate for screening come the summer.
In 2021, Adams, a former NYPD captain, nabbed the top endorsement of the Police Benevolent Association, but failed to sweep the cop unions, with other backing Andrew Yang in the Democratic primary.
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But the union bigwigs, the sources added, have no plans this time around to wade into the messy Democratic primary, which is just three weeks away.
4 Mayor Eric Adams could walk away with the full backing of police unions, something he failed to achieve in 2021.
Paul Martinka
Cop unions have been resistant to even meeting with the frontrunner, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Sources said many inside the unions still blame the thrice-elected Democrat — who resigned in 2021 — for the controversial slate of criminal justice reforms passed in 2019.
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The coalition of union heads seemingly has little interest in the rest of the Democratic candidates, the vast majority of whom align farther left than the ex-gov, according to sources.
'I mean, if we agree it's Eric [Adams], which it's already looking like from the conversations I've had, we'll just back him and scrap the rest,' one source said.
'Who knows, we may not even endorse,' the source added. 'It'll be up to the board.'
4 Mayor Eric Adams is running on two independent lines come November.
James Messerschmidt
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More than 60 reps attended the NYC Uniformed Forces Coalition meeting, which also included presidents of the various Nassau and Suffolk County police unions, the state corrections and troopers unions and the Port Authority unions.
Detective Endowment Association leader Scott Monroe — who led the charge on creating the policing alliance — called the coalition a 'historic first step.'
4 Zohran Mamdani has surged in the polls since earlier this year, repeatedly coming in second to Cuomo.
Robert Miller
'We intend to make sure elected officials wake up to the power of our uniforms,' Monroe said. 'Our words can move the public to participate in politics, and to support officials and candidates—locally and state-wide– who support public safety. Stay tuned.'
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Others with knowledge of the policing partnership said the union leaders hoped to use the massive uniformed coalition to put their finger on the scale in the governor's race come next year, as well.
The cop unions are expected to play an outsized role in the race, with Gov. Kathy Hochul likely needing to pull support from law enforcement on Long Island in both the primary and general elections.
Hochul gave the police unions in the Big Apple a win in the latest budget, increasing pension benefits for city cops.
4 Mayor Eric Adams has yet to fully kick off his campaign, instead waiting until the Democratic primary is over.
Stephen Yang
Adams is running on two independent lines as part of his re-election bid after dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination in April when his historic federal criminal case was officially dismissed.
The Post recently revealed that Hizzoner has been attempting to create his own coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans, with a Hail Mary play to find a way on the GOP line in the November general election.
Others running in general, as of now, will be independent candidate Jim Walden and presumptive GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.
The Working Families Party is also expected to put up socialist Zohran Mamdani as its candidate, with the Queens assemblyman repeatedly coming up second in the polls, after Cuomo, to snag the Democratic nomination.
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