Mayor Adams largely — though not completely — refrained from criticizing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday, two days after the former governor entered the race with sweeping criticisms over how New York is being run.
Among Cuomo’s many digs, he said in a campaign announcement video that the city needs to be “saved,” sparking a jab from Adams.
“I do believe we need to be saved from him,” Adams said.
But for the most part, the mayor stuck to talking about his own record during his weekly press availability Monday. The mayor’s measured response to Cuomo’s weekend comeback announcement stood in contrast to the other candidates in the crowded field, who have fiercely attacked the former governor.
The mayor said he didn’t take issue “at all” with a veiled dig from Cuomo in his campaign video, where he slammed a “lack of intelligent action” in city politics.
“At debate times, we could go over the intelligent actions that we’ve taken and the intelligent actions that he took as governor,” Adams said.
Cuomo, in announcing his run for mayor over the weekend, took implied shots at Adams’ leadership.
“We need a government that can actually perform, we need a government with leadership that can take a stand and get things done,” Cuomo said.
Asked whether there is anything in Cuomo’s record as governor that might disqualify him from being a good mayor, Adams simply replied: “We’re gonna do that on the trail.”
Cuomo was accused by 11 women of sexual harassment — accusations the state Attorney General substantiated later on. He also came under fire for a policy directing nursing homes to readmit patients recovering from Covid.
“Well let the voters decide,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a text.
Adams said Monday Cuomo would have to answer for those controversies on the campaign trail and said they should not prevent him from running.
Adams said he wouldn’t throw down from his podium at City Hall at the advice of his lawyer, although minutes later he did slam Comptroller Brad Lander’s campaign as a copycat after Lander said he’d retain Jessica Tisch as police commissioner.
“They knew all the time I was right,” he said. “And so Brad, ‘I’m going to hire Eric Adams’ police commissioner.’ It’s just another signature that people realize I navigated the system, city. I knew what I was doing.”
The mayor withdrew from a candidate forum last week, where he was supposed to face off against his mayoral challengers for the first time this election cycle.
Unlike his competitors, the mayor has limited visible campaign infrastructure. He put up a campaign website just last week. On Monday, he wouldn’t name a campaign manager or spokesperson.
Despite that, the mayor has insisted he is running for re-election, calling a second term the “gravy” to his first term’s “meat and potatoes.”
“I have a full stomach with the meat and potatoes,” he said. “I’m going to show New Yorkers why I should be term two.”
