New York City mayoral candidates take aim at each other as Election Day nears
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The New York City mayoral candidates trailing frontrunner Zohran Mamdani still believe they can beat him as they speak out and take aim at each other.
The dominant issue in the race for New York City Mayor this week continues to be President Donald Trump's involvement. On Monday, the person who could potentially benefit the most from that, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, took to the national airwaves to blast democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.
Cuomo also denied being Trump's choice for mayor.
And just days after his dramatic news conference announcing he is staying in the race, Mayor Eric Adams joined Eyewitness News for a one-on-one interview.
Adams wants voters to know he is serious about getting reelected and he insists he still has time.
"Well, let's look at the history, when did Zohran overtake Andrew? You know, prior to that, when he was 1%, 3%, 2% of people didn't even know who he was," Adams said. "When I was telling people that he was going to beat Andrew, you know, almost nine months ago, people said, 'We don't even know who this guy is or what you're talking about.'"
Adams believes he still has time to drive up his poll numbers and win the general election.
He denies that he was pressured to suspend his campaign or that he would consider a position in the Trump administration.
He said he can't make it any clearer that he wants to be the mayor of New York City and late Friday, Adams blasted his opponents and doubled down on his reelection campaign.
On CNBC Monday, Cuomo seemed to suggest the mayor is no longer a factor in the race.
"We'll see what happens with Eric Adams," Cuomo said. "But in reality for voters, there will be two viable candidates who can win: me and Mamdani. And you could not have a more stark choice. Mamdani is a socialist. I am a democrat."
Adams dismissed Cuomo's claims that he's not a viable candidate, saying Cuomo shouldn't be running in the first place.
"What he did in this scenario about attempting to undermine my running in a general election was the wrong thing to do," Adams said.
Meanwhile, Mamdani took aim at Cuomo for his role in ending a rental subsidy program in New York City while he was governor.
"I'm running once again against Andrew Cuomo, and in this conversation around homelessness, we also can't forget this is a man who in his cutting of the advantage plan, that was a decision that led to a skyrocketing of homelessness here in New York City," Mamdani said.
Mamdani is campaigning to make New York City more affordable, but Adams says his approach to policing would make the city less safe.
"When you pick apart his public safety plans, those who are in this arena realize that these are real concerns that could take us backwards and we've come too far," Adams said.
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