Mayor Adams Tuesday offered a surprising compliment to challenger Zohran Mamdani as the democratic socialist makes a run at knocking off frontrunner Andrew Cuomo just two weeks before the Democratic mayoral primary.
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Adams, while acknowledging he’s “diametrically opposed” to Mamdani’s policies, said he respects him for being consistent.
“Mamdani is the same Mamdani that he was before, same person,” Adams said of the current state assemblymember. “I disagree with him, but at least he’s not this politician that puts a finger in the air and sees where the wind is blowing. The rest of these guys are not consistent, you know?”
New York Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani waves to the crowd during his first campaign rally at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn on May 4 2025. (Photo by Madison Swart / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP)
Adams has chosen to skip the June primary and instead run for reelection as an independent in the November election. Mamdani is polling second to ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment but has now mounted a powerful comeback campaign.
The results of the June 24 primary typically determine who the next mayor will be in the heavily Democratic Big Apple, but with Adams running outside party lines and both Cuomo and Mamdani possibly also running on independent or the Working Families Party lines, the November general election could be competitive, as well.
The mayor has slammed Cuomo for his pledge to work to do away with Tier 6 pensions despite instating them as governor, a promise to advocate for a $20 minimum wage despite rejecting a similar proposal from Mayor de Blasio and his support for crime crackdowns despite signing off on bail reforms laws.
“I respect people who are authentic and consistent, not who talk out of both sides of their mouths,” Adams said from City Hall on Tuesday.
The mayor said that, no matter how the Democratic primary shakes out, he expects to compete against Mamdani in November because he’s earned the support of the Working Families Party.
During the press conference, Adams also took shots at Cuomo and his so-called rose garden campaign strategy, under which he rarely takes questions from the press. Adams also claimed that Cuomo is touting endorsements from communities that don’t overwhelmingly back him.
“I have a Master’s in public administration, but I have a PhD in Andrew,” Adams said. “He comes out on weekends, he’ll stop at a Black church, and then they’ll list him as an endorsement, and oftentimes they call me and say, we never endorse him. He’ll go and identify one or two people in a community and say, I have the community.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in response:
“You can quote me shrugging — another Tuesday and another unhinged rant from the MAGA mayor going through the seven stages of grief,” he said. “He sold out the city to Trump for his own personal benefit and New Yorkers aren’t going to ever forget that.”