Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo has finally announced his bid for City Hall — a late entry that threatens to eclipse a crowded Democratic primary and deal a diminished incumbent Mayor Eric Adams a political death blow.
Cuomo enters the race already widely considered the front-runner after a monthslong shadow campaign, in which he coyly avoided officially announcing his comeback while ruthlessly capitalizing behind the scenes on Adams’ scandal-plagued first term.
“The city just feels threatening, out of control,” Cuomo said in his more than 17-minute announcement video. “These conditions exist not as an act of God, but rather as an act of our political leaders. Or more precisely, the lack of intelligent action by many of our political leaders.”
The backroom maneuvering by Cuomo quietly amassed a formidable amount of support and siphoned off many of Adams’ prominent backers, even before the three-term governor jumped into the race.
“I know we can turn the city around and I believe I can help and that is why I announced my candidacy today for mayor of New York City,” he said in the lengthy video, in which he doesn’t mention Adams directly at all.
Adams — who was widely considered a Democratic star when elected in 2021 — saw his support dwindle after his historic corruption indictment and a swirl of scandals that ensnared some of his closest confidantes.
When asked Saturday about his chief rival shortly before Cuomo’s official announcement, Adams said “Come on, come on, come on, come on … democracy,” and then got into an SUV.
Cuomo, meanwhile, is making a return to public life following his own scandals — he resigned from the governor’s office in 2021 while facing a slew of sexual harassment accusations, which he has vigorously denied.
He briefly addressed the embattled end to his governorship during his announcement.
“Did I always do everything right in my years of government service? Of course not. Would I do some things differently knowing what I know now? Certainly. Did I make mistakes? Some painfully. Definitely. And I believe I learned from them and that I am a better person for. And I hope to show you that every day.”
Though scandal-scarred, few expected the ambitious and formidable Cuomo to stay out of politics for long.
And opportunity opened when Adams’ polling hit record lows last year.
Rumors steadily grew that Cuomo would make a run for Gracie Mansion in his political comeback bid.
The speculation eventually coalesced into an open secret that Cuomo would enter the race, especially as Adams cozied up to President Trump and the Department of Justice moved to toss his criminal case.
As Cuomo enters the crowded field, he’s the early favorite in polls, benefiting from his name recognition as he sat on the sidelines while Adams’ administration grabbed increasing negative headlines.
Stay up to date on former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NYC mayoral campaign
But he will have to fend off a slate of city Democrats looking to dethrone the former state leader by attacking him over the sexual harassment claims that pushed him out of office.
They will also slam Cuomo during the primary for lying about the handling of nursing homes during the COVID pandemic that led to hundreds of deaths, signing the controversial bail reforms into laws and paving the way for congestion pricing.
Opponents were quick to take shots at the ex-gov Saturday.
“He spent years treating New York City like his personal punching bag—slashing MTA funding and wrecking the subway while funneling money to upstate ski resorts, and trying to cut billions in funding for public school kids and Medicaid for city residents,” former Comptroller Scott Stringer said.
“And now he wants New Yorkers to rehabilitate his reputation? Give me a break.”
Current city Comptroller Brad Lander sarcastically welcomed Cuomo to the fold on social media.
“In honor of your sad attempt to get attention, let’s remember your time as Governor of New York—before you resigned for sexually harassing 13 women and leading thousands of elderly New Yorkers to their deaths during Covid-19,” he wrote.
Ascending socialist Dem state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani called Cuomo nothing more than a second term of the Adams agenda.
“The same donors, the same agenda, the same chaos,” he said. “And like our current disgraced Mayor, the disgraced former Governor will also be defeated this June.”
Notably absent from the attacks was Adams, whose campaign stayed silent on the new contender following the announcement.
Cuomo famously followed his father Mario Cuomo’s footsteps in becoming New York’s governor.
And he now seeks to do what his father could not: become New York City’s mayor.
Mario Cuomo failed in his 1977 bid for mayor, losing first in a razor-thin Democratic primary and then by a wider margin in the general election to Ed Koch.
The younger Cuomo, despite his baggage, has led poll after poll.
The most recent poll showed him grabbing a 51% majority of ranked-choice votes after seven rounds.
Adams lagged far behind democratic socialists, Lander and Mamdani, who’d finish with 31% and 18%, respectively, in the final round of ranked-choice voting.
The mayor would get eliminated in the fifth round with 9% of the vote, the poll found.
Voters surveyed in the poll were overwhelmingly sour on Adams, with 84% saying they would not vote for Adams and nearly 60% deeming his administration “chaotic.”
In another poll funded by opponents, Cuomo was polling at 31% support– but when voters were reminded of those scandals his numbers dropped to 19%.
Still, he remains one of the only Dems with name recognition who isn’t a far-left candidate.
Already declared for the unusual race are: Lander, Mamdani, Stringer, state Sens. Jessica Ramos and Zelnor Myrie, former Obama aide Michael Blake and Wall Street investor Whitney Tilson.
The desire for a moderate Dem — and growing doubts about Adams’ viability — have pushed many power brokers publicly and privately toward a Cuomo candidacy.
Frank Seddio, the former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss, this week backed Cuomo.
His endorsement was all the more noteworthy because he’s the law partner of Adams’ political adviser and former City Hall chief-of-staff Frank Carone.
“I have been friends with Eric all these years,” he said.
“But looking at the circumstances, I don’t see a path where Eric could win.”
Cuomo, despite his powerful backers and favorable polling, still needs to quickly raise a war chest to campaign across the Big Apple.
The ranked-choice primary will be held on June 24.
The winner likely will face Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, the declared Republican candidate for mayor, in November’s general election.
