NYC NOW - NYC Now Explains: The Election Awaits. Where Does Mayor Adams Stand?

Episode Date: April 26, 2025

NYC Now is back this weekend with the final episode in its series on Mayor Eric Adams and how he has found himself at the mercy of intersecting political powers — from his voter base, to prosecutors, to Governor Kathy Hochul, and, of course, President Donald Trump. Now, with the mayoral election just a few months away, we look at what lies ahead for Adams and the city. Host Janae Pierre sits down with WNYC politics reporter Brigid Bergin and fellow host Brian Lehrer. Miss the previous episodes in our series? Listen to #1 here, #2 here, #3 here, #4 here and #5 here.

From WMYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jene Pierre. Over the last few weeks on this podcast, we've taken an in-depth look at the political turmoil that's engulfed Mayor Eric Adams and his administration. Since his indictment last fall, the mayor has found himself at the mercy of intersecting political powers, from his voter base to prosecutors, to Governor Kathy Hockel, and of course, President Donald Trump. Then came a lifeline. Earlier this month, a federal judge officially dismissed the mayor's corruption case. Now, with the mayoral election just two months away, what lies ahead for Adams and the city? To explore all of that, we're joined by WMYC Politics Reporter Bridget Bergen and host Brian Lair.

Hey, you two. Hey, Janae. This past Monday, that was the day Mayor Eric Adams' trial was scheduled to start. But as we all know, the case was ultimately dismissed. In what ways does the case still loom over the mayor and, and city politics more broadly. All right, Janay and everybody, this may be a conspiratorial way to look at it right off the bat,

but I don't think he's necessarily off the hook from criminal pressure being applied by Trump. Like before the Trump people and Adam struck their deal, there were reports in October and again in January that the Justice Department had evidence of additional crimes they might charge him with. That never happened. So remember, he can't be charged with the same.

alleged crimes again under the double jeopardy protection of the Constitution. But I wonder if both sides know tacitly that they could still charge him with something else that's hanging out there if he doesn't play ball on Trump policies. And beyond that, I'd say the damage is done to his reputation for many New Yorkers. I mean, fairly or not, you know, people who are charged with crimes can be perceived as guilty in the court of public opinion, even though legally the government is required to prove its case. I would add that if Eric Adams is unpopular, I don't think it's very much because of this.

This isn't Bob Menendez's gold bars, which really landed with the public in New Jersey. And honestly, judging from callers to my show and other folks I talk to, people kind of shrug at garden variety corruption cases, like for the upgrades and stuff, like Adams has been accused of. and they don't understand largely the more serious democracy implications of the alleged phony donors

to get lots of taxpayer matching funds. So if Eric Adams is unpopular, I think it's because people on one side or another don't like his crime and criminal justice record, his immigration policy record, there's some racism involved, I think, and other things that stir people much more than these charges ever did. Yeah. What about you, Bridget? Yeah, I think Brian is absolutely right. on the voters don't really connect to these charges related to campaign finance stuff.

We've seen that as, you know, in previous cases against previous mayors who faced not as serious charges, but whose cases were connected to those types of issues, it just never resonated with the public. The issue with Adams and this idea of, you know, the Trump administration sort of looming large, I think absolutely remains an issue. He's going to get hammered by his rivals. They're already hitting him on it. They're going to keep hitting on it. You take an issue like opening a federal immigration office on Rikers Island. Before the case was fully dropped, you have Mayor Adams appearing in that notorious Fox and Friends segment with Trump's borders czar, Tom Homan. That's, of course, where Homan said that Adams would have to make good on his immigration enforcement commitments or Homan would be back in New York City.

Up his butt. Yeah, that's right. Thank you for saying it because I didn't really want to. So then you fast forward. forward in this case is dismissed, and the federal judge writes in his ruling this incredibly damning quote, everything here smacks of a bargain, dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions. So, and then you have Mayor Adams, who is removing himself from having to make the decision on the ICE executive order, delegating it to his first deputy

mayor, Randy Mastro, instead. You know, legal experts. raised real questions to our team about, you know, does that, does that give the mayor any cover? I mean, he can't, like, theoretically recuse himself from a decision like that. The deputy mayor is serving the mayor. And if he's delegating authority to the deputy mayor, well, how does that distance him from making this very important decision related to federal policy? So I think the whole threat of the Trump administration and their objectives in terms of potentially using the office of the mayor continue to loom very large for the rest of this administration. Yeah. And we know the mayor ended up walking away from his legal problems, but, you know,

several people in his inner circle did not. What should we be watching for here, Bridget? That's right. I mean, we know, as Brian was saying, that there was talk of more potential charges, certainly the Eastern District, which covers Brooklyn and Long Island. There was talk about whether or not there could be potentially a case coming out of that federal prosecutor's office. And we know that several people close to Mayor Adams remain under investigation and or under indictment. There's former Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich, former senior advisor, Ingrid Lewis Martin. Now, they both face state charges. But we don't know what they're telling prosecutors.

There's Tim Pearson, another senior advisor to the mayor who was investigated for both misconduct after attacking two security guards at a migrant shelter. and separately for sexual harassment charges. So, you know, and then there's, of course, also Deputy Mayor of Public Safety, Phil Banks, schools chancellor, David Banks, and his partner, First Deputy Mayor, Sheena Wright, all of whom had their phones seized by the FBI before the mayor was indicted. We don't know exactly what that was in connection to or what investigation that was related to. And, again, we don't know what conversations any of those people are having with federal prosecutors. So those threats from the Trump administration,

from federal prosecutors, and really, prosecution writ large is something that I think still looms very large for this administration. Yeah. Not only was his case dismissed this month, but Mayor Eric Adams also announced that he would run for re-election as an independent. He says he's still a Democrat, but he's also expressed that, you know, the party left him. Where does Adam stand within his own party and with major power brokers across the city, Brian? Well, you know, he says he didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left him. Well, maybe both things happened. But certainly he did leave the Democratic Party in ways that matter. Enough said that at a recent public appearance, a news conference, no less, he held up a copy of the book, Government Gangsters by the new FBI director, Cash Patel, who's one of the most high-profile faces of Maga World. I also read in the times that he succeeded in boosting sales of

the book. Plus, Adams did officially leave the Democratic primary. And in terms of the mayor's race, Adams has lost the support of some of his keybackers. I'm thinking of someone like Brooklyn Democratic Party chair, assembly member, Rednees, Bichott Hermelin. But I think there is something very interesting and kind of provocative about this idea that he is running still in the general election as an independent and might be one of the smartest political decisions he has made in a long time because he's buying himself some time. If he was just going to be in the primary, the race would essentially be done in June. And time is only a friend to someone in a situation like he's in. Yeah. And he won't know the outcome until November. Exactly. All right. New York City government

has been tested over the last year or so. And I'm wondering from both of your viewpoints. Has it held up at all? Has the system of checks and balances worked as intended here in New York City? I mean, we've still gone through the budget process and the garbage gets picked up and the police are there for emergencies. We know that the city has huge issues, which are some of the conversations that we're having in this primary election and general election season. But I do think the machinery of government has continued to function. I think the things that will become huge liabilities for this particular administration are just the massive turnover we've seen at very high levels of city government. It was a very tumultuous period. That being said, I think the city

has fared very well. And I think that is largely thanks to the thousands of city workers who are doing their job, regardless of who's in charge, what party they're associated with, and are committed to making sure that you and I get what we need from city government and are not part of the politics. I agree with everything Bridget just said. And to your question, Janay, about whether the system of checks and balances is working as intended, my answer would be yes. It's very different than the federal government right now, or of course, Trump is trying to

break everything that he doesn't. and control directly. We may have one party rule in New York City, more or less, but we have divided government because Eric Adams is fairly more conservative than city council. And city council has been a check and a balance on the mayor. The mayor in certain ways has been a check and balance on city council. So I think democracy is alive and well in New York. Up next, a look into the upcoming election and what Mayor Adam is. is up against. That's after the break. So let's talk a bit about fundraising. I know the mayor has phased some challenges this campaign season.

Where does he stand right now with donors? Well, he raised $4.4 million before a lot of this legal headache had really came to pass. And right now, he's not getting matching funds from the city's campaign finance board. But his campaign has said all the options are on the table. But remember, you know, here's a person who can get earned media any day he wants to have a press conference. And so there's a way for him to remain and to shape a narrative that doesn't require campaign funds because he's running for re-election and he has the bully pulpit. So I think that it's unclear. And he still has the opportunity to fundraise.

The candidates who are getting money now are getting money for the primary election. and then it kind of starts over again for the general. And so he's going to argue, hopefully, for his campaign, that he deserves those matching funds for the general election. Yeah. And I want to go back to the Democratic primary coming up in June because the Democratic field is packed. Brian, I'm curious, how do you see the primary playing out?

Well, people shouldn't be surprised. Cuomo wins in Blue New York, just as Adams won in 2021 rather than a more progressive candidate. then, you know, everybody knows Cuomo was up in the polls, so it's not surprising a thing for me to say. But look at the history of the last 50 years beyond the immediate polls, Ed Koch, for three terms as he became more conservative than just one of Dinkins, then Giuliani for two terms, then Bloomberg for three terms, each defeating well-known Democrats each time. Then the more progressive Bill de Blasio is in for two terms between Bloomberg and Adams. But when it comes to local issues, especially

Public Safety, Blue New York is fairly centrist in mayoral elections and has been for a long time. But having said that with ranked choice voting, we'll see if the progressives in the race can unite enough to form a winning strategy since Cuomo has the lead in the polls, but not the majority. The ones I've seen, he's only in the mid to high 30s depending on the poll. So we'll see what his ceiling turns out to be and how the Ranked Choice coalition building plays out. Bridget, would you like to expound on that? There is a coalition supporting progressives in the race that are urging voters not to rank Andrew Cuomo on their ballot at all. They're using the acronym Dream.

It used to stand for don't rank Eric or Andrew, exactly, for mayor. Now that Mayor Adams is running as an independent, it's just don't rank evil Andrew Cuomo for mayor. That was theirs. Oh, I hadn't seen the replacement E yet. Oh, yeah. That is a... I feel like a lot of people had fun around a coffee table when they came up with that. Or maybe a bar stole.

But either way, it's kind of entertaining. I'd like to talk a bit more about Bridget's favorite holiday. Christmas Day, General Election Day. You know, with Adams joining in the field and running as an independent, does he have a chance? Election Day is political Christmas? Is that what you're saying? Yeah. We celebrate it.

Well, I don't like to predict as opposed to analyze what he is, but probably not. Probably Adams doesn't have much of a chance as unpopular as he is. But with Eric Adams as an independent and the possibility that if Cuomo is the Democratic nominee, the Working Families Party will run a progressive candidate on its own line, then anything could happen. The wild card there is that there is not ranked choice voting in the general election. I don't. think people have gotten their mind around the difference yet. But think about it. Cuomo and the Working Families Party and Adams could split the Democratic-leaning vote and Republican Curtis Slewa could end up as the mayor. Or Slewa, Cuomo, and Adams could split the center to right vote

and it could be the working families candidate. So it's really anything can happen. Yeah, Bridget, I see you nodding your head here. I mean, Brian is exactly right. Because the general election is not a ranked choice election. That means we're talking about a candidate who could win with 20 plus percent of the vote, probably more likely in the range of 30 percent. But they only need a plurality. They don't need to get to that 50 plus one that you need in ranked choice voting. And so it just flings open the door of possibility. And I've had conversations with folks all across the political spectrum about why, you know, X scenario is plausible. Before Mayor Adams announced that he was running as an independent, I was talking with some Republicans in the city council

who laid out that very scenario that Brian just described as this is the path that would allow Curtis Leawah to become the Republican mayor of New York City, which is why suddenly the summer that has tended to be sort of quiet since 2013 when we moved the primary is now suddenly going to be a time when candidates have to campaign. The West Indian Day Parade, which used to be this moment right before the September primaries that all the candidates wanted to be on Flappish Avenue, talking to voters, making their case, getting their pictures, you know, anywhere on social media in the newspapers, on television.

They're going to have to do that again this year because now that November. general election is going to be a real election. That's WMYC's Bridget Bergen and Brian Laira. Thank you both so much. Anytime. Thank you. And also thanks to everyone from the WMYC Newsroom that helped contribute to this series,

including Amber Bruce, Sean Bowdoch, Brooks Brunson, Stephanie Clary, Stephen Brown, John Campbell, Audrey Cooper, Daniel Shapiro, Anne Givens, Andrew Jambroni, David Gianbuso, Maya Hibbitt, Brittany Krikstein, Owen Kaplan, Elizabeth Kim, Samantha Max, Leorne Noam Kravitz, Emily Nadal, Jared Marcell, Christopher Worth, and Wayne Schoemeister. I'm Jenei Pierre, and this is NYC Now. Stay tuned for more election coverage and original Saturday content.

Woo-hoo. Please keep the woo. Keep the woo. I loved it. It takes a village. It takes a village. Thank you.