NEW YORK (NYT) — Mayor Eric Adams of New York City announced Sunday that he would abandon his foundering campaign for a second term, upending the race to lead the nation’s largest city just five weeks before Election Day.
In a nearly nine-minute video message, the mayor conceded that despite his best efforts, he could no longer see a path to reelection and would conclude his tumultuous mayoralty at year’s end.
He blamed “continued media speculation about my departure” and a decision by the city’s Campaign Finance Board to deny him public matching funds for his campaign, which has flagged amid anemic poll numbers and a cloud of scandal around City Hall.
The mayor did not endorse one of his rivals. But he offered voters what appeared to be a veiled warning about Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and front-runner, and what he characterized as growing extremism in politics.
Without naming Mamdani, a democratic socialist, the politically moderate mayor warned that “insidious forces” were pushing “divisive agendas” in city politics. He claimed that “our children are being radicalized to hate our city and our country.”
“Major change is welcome and necessary,” Adams said.
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