In one in every of his first public appearances since abandoning his bid for reelection, Mayor Adams boasted Wednesday that he’s leaving the Massive Apple “in good shape” and provided some blunt recommendation for the boys working to exchange him at Metropolis Corridor.
“We need to make sure we don’t go backwards, and I’m gonna say it in the words of [Michael] Bloomberg when I became mayor: Don’t f— it up,” Adams mentioned at NYPD Headquarters in decrease Manhattan when requested at a criminal offense stats briefing if he has any recommendation for his successor.
Adams ditched his impartial bid for a second time period Sunday after weeks of stress from President Trump’s staff and others to assist clear the sphere in opposition to Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani, whose tax-the-rich agenda has unnerved the enterprise neighborhood.
The incumbent’s exit is predicted to assist Andrew Cuomo, who’s additionally working as an impartial in opposition to Mamdani and polling because the runner-up to the democratic socialist. The one different main candidate left within the Nov. 4 election is Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, who has constantly positioned third within the polls.
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch transient the media concerning the crime statistics for September 2025 and the third quarter at 1 Police Plaza on Oct. 1, 2025. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Images Workplace)
Adams — who was polling useless final within the mayoral race amid continued fallout from his corruption indictment and surrounding controversies — has kept away from endorsing any of the remaining candidates within the race since dropping out.
In his Wednesday press convention, Adams continued to withhold an endorsement and mentioned he’s frightened concerning the course town might take as soon as he leaves workplace.
“I am not confident that New Yorkers are going to continue this success that we have witnessed,” he mentioned, pointing to drops in crime and will increase in housing manufacturing underneath his administration.
Though he’s in some ways politically aligned with Cuomo, Adams has engaged in a confrontation with the previous governor for weeks. Just some weeks in the past, as he insisted he wasn’t dropping out, Adams referred to as Cuomo “a snake and a liar.”
Adams didn’t take purpose at Cuomo at Wednesday’s press convention, although. As an alternative, he singled out Mamdani for criticism with out mentioning him by identify.
“If you don’t have a welcome mat for businesses so that we have employment, if you’re not willing to sit down with billionaires who pay 50% of our taxes, those who are a million-plus, when you talk about taxing white communities, all of these things are hurting what it takes to have a successful city,” Adams mentioned, exaggerating points of Mamdani’s proposals to boost taxes on millionaires and firms in an effort to fund social packages like expanded baby care and free buses.
Adams, who will depart workplace Jan. 1, capped off the press convention by telling reporters, “It has become so good for you guys” due to his administration’s achievements.
“You don’t even realize it,” he mentioned, “but you know what, you’re going to miss me.”
Initially Printed: October 1, 2025 at 6:52 PM EDT
