In public, Mayor Eric Adams says he’s in it to win it. But during an off-the-record roundtable with about 20 city leaders Wednesday afternoon, three people in the room said Adams appeared to shift his position, implying he might consider dropping out in the future if it was best for the city.
When asked about what the sources had told NBC New York, the mayor’s campaign said Adams has not made a decision to drop out but plans to conduct his own poll “to make a decision.”
According to the three people in the room Wednesday, Adams said he would continue to watch polls, adding that races are not determined until the last four weeks. Election Day is just under eight weeks away, on Nov. 4.
Andrew Cuomo and his associates have been pressuring Adams to drop out to improve Cuomo’s chances of beating democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Throughout Wednesday afternoon’s meeting — hosted by the Association for a Better New York steering committee in midtown — Adams reiterated his disdain for rival Cuomo, sources said. But they also said Adams implied that if his poll numbers do not move, he would put the best interests of the city first, telling the room “I love the city more than I dislike Andrew.”
The sources say the mayor qualified that statement by saying he believes both Cuomo and Mamdani would be bad for the city if elected.
“That was quite a different answer from the statement he made on Friday,” one of the sources told NBC New York, describing Adams’ adamant press conference five days earlier outside Gracie Mansion in which he said he would not drop out of the race and called Cuomo “a snake and a liar.”
“The mayor has always said he puts New York City first, but he did not allude to leaving the race,” Adams campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro said in a statement on the closed door meeting.
“He clearly indicated he will be spending resources to get his message out and then look at his own unbiased poll to make a decision. Nothing he said should give any indication he has abandoned the race. He remains fully committed to doing his job and serving the people of the city,” Shapiro said.
Just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Adams campaign posted on X that he is “in this race to WIN” while Adams himself was inside the ABNY meeting.
A triplet of new polls show Cuomo trailing Mamdani, even if Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa were to drop out.
Former Gov. Cuomo is hoping to consolidate support from the business community. Several dozen real estate executives gathered in midtown Tuesday to strategize ways to create a one-on-one showdown between Cuomo and Mamdani.
A spokeswoman for Mamdani said the poll speaks for itself.
“New York City is not for sale,” the spokeswoman said. “The backroom scheming from Donald Trump and the billionaire class is backfiring, as New Yorkers see Zohran Mamdani is the only candidate who will fight to make the most expensive city in the country more affordable.”
As for the Republican candidate in the race, Sliwa has insisted that he is remaining in the race, as a new ad for him voiced by his wife says “Curtis and I have always fought for women and will keep defending them.”