Mayor Adams, who announced that he would run for reelection as an independent, said Wednesday that his line on November’s mayoral general election will be “Safe Streets, Affordable City” — signaling his plans to make a viable case to New Yorkers for a second term.
Adams, who is facing political fallout over his corruption indictment and the swirl of controversy that surrounded the DOJ’s efforts to dismiss his case, has pitched himself to voters by touting his record on crime and quality-of-life complaints.
“Those are the issues that are important to New Yorkers,” Adams said of the ballot line during an interview on 1010WINS. “They want a safe city, they want an affordable city, and I want them to know that is what I produce for them.”
The mayor’s line will appear on the ballots when voters head to vote this fall. Leading up to the election, Adams is attempting to appeal to Black working- and middle-class residents in Brooklyn and Queens and unaffiliated or conservative voters.
During the radio interview, the mayor also slammed his would opponents as “Cuomo and the seven socialists,” and said they are “running from their record” and in some cases ripping off his own longtime platforms.
“I am running on my record,” Adams said in remarks pointed at the former governor. “They’re running from bail reform. They’re running from the crisis that they created in homelessness. They’re running from what they have done in our educational system.”
The mayor, who was facing tough polling numbers and last week had his federal corruption case dropped, has had a slow start to campaigning. His decision to run as an independent allows him more time to round up funds and support before facing off against his competitors and allows him to avert a potential loss in the June Democratic primary.
To get on the ballot, the mayor must submit 15,000 signatures before a May deadline.
The mayor has been accused of entering into a corrupt quid pro quo with the Trump administration to get his charges dismissed. He fostered ties with the president while he was under indictment, visting him oin Mar-a-Lago, saying he wouldn’t publicly criticize Trump and catching a last-minute bus to get to the inauguration.
Critics say he did so as part of a campaign to get his case dropped, an accusation the mayor has denied. The charges, which Adams has also denied, were dismissed last week.
Adams has said he’s willing to work with the Trump administration on some of its hardline immigration policies, and the city late Tuesday enacted an executive order that allows federal immigration officials to set up shop on Rikers Island.
Asked if he would consider accepting a job in the Trump administration, Adams said that he has “the greatest job in politics on the globe.”
“Why the heck would I leave the greatest mayor job on the globe?” he said. “I’m happy where I am.”
Adams said that if he weren’t mayor, he would likely work on some volunteer reentry program with people formerly in prison.
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