Since Mayor Adams dropped his reelection bid two weeks ago, his longtime political confidant, Frank Carone, has quietly tried to broker an agreement for Adams to endorse Andrew Cuomo’s independent mayoral campaign, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Carone, who was Adams’ first chief of staff at City Hall and served as his reelection campaign chairman, said shortly after the mayor dropped out of the race on Sept. 28 that he planned to work in some capacity to help get Cuomo elected.
Since then, Carone has tried to help Cuomo by privately urging Adams to publicly endorse the ex-governor’s mayoral run, the three sources told the Daily News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It’s unclear what role Cuomo has played, if any, in those conversations. It’s also unclear if Adams — who just over a month ago called Cuomo “a snake and a liar” — would seek anything in return for endorsing the ex-governor’s mayoral bid.
Adams spokesman Todd Shapiro on Monday wouldn’t comment on any talks with Carone, but said Adams’ biggest priority is defeating Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee who’s polling as the favorite to win the Nov. 4 election.
Barry Williams / New York Daily News; Getty
Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo. (Barry Williams / New York Daily News; Getty)
“The mayor is 100% behind defeating New York City becoming the largest socialist city in the country,” Shapiro said, a reference to Mamdani’s identification as a democratic socialist. “Although [Adams] has not endorsed anyone at this time, he is considering all options.”
A spokesman for Cuomo declined to comment, as did Carone. In an interview with the New York Times published days before Adams suspended his reelection campaign, Cuomo said he had spoken to Carone “several weeks ago.”
In addition to urging Adams to back Cuomo, Carone has called up donors to ask them to provide financial support for the ex-gov’s mayoral run.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
Mayor Eric Adams and Frank Carone walk into City Hall in 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)
Adams dropped out of the mayoral race as he faced sharply low approval ratings amid continued controversies stemming from his federal corruption indictment. For months prior to his exit, Adams had placed last in polls of the mayoral election, pulling around 10% support.
Even without an endorsement, a Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed nearly all of Adams’ supporters migrating to Cuomo with the incumbent out of the picture. The two men share a base of ideologically moderate, older voters, many of them Black and residing in the outer-boroughs.
Still, Mamdani led Cuomo by 13% in the Quinnipiac poll, retaining his status as the front-runner in the race.
Furthermore, Adams’ name will remain on the Nov. 4 ballot no matter what, as a deadline has passed to remove it. That could cause concern for Cuomo, as it’s difficult to predict what Adams supporters might do in the voting booth when the mayor’s name is still on the ballot.
Any push to get Adams voters to line up behind Cuomo could also be muddied by a recent effort launched by Brock Pierce, a prominent Adams friend and campaign donor.
As first reported by The News, Pierce, a billionaire cryptocurrency investor and former child actor, put $1.1 million earlier this month behind what he calls a “Draft Eric Back” campaign trying to convince Adams to get back into the race.
On Monday, Pierce, who has a home in Puerto Rico, told The News that he has since then changed his residency to Manhattan so that he can vote for Adams in the November contest. He said he also met with Cuomo this past Thursday to try to convince the former governor to get out of the race to clear the way for Adams to challenge Mamdani.
“Cuomo has to be a part of getting Eric back,” Pierce said. “We all have to come together in a unified way.”
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi didn’t comment on the meeting with Pierce.
Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa is also on the Nov 4. ballot. He has said he will not drop out of the race under any circumstance.
