New York Legal professional Letitia James framed Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as the perfect mayoral candidate to tackle President Trump and block former Gov. Andrew Cuomo from Metropolis Corridor. Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
Picture by Ethan Stark-Miller
Looking for to offer Adrienne Adams a lift within the 2025 NYC mayor’s race, state Legal professional Basic Letitia James and the leaders of three distinguished unions on Wednesday rallied to trumpet the Metropolis Council speaker as the perfect mayoral candidate to tackle President Trump and block former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s path to Metropolis Corridor.
James, District Council 37 (DC37) Government Director Henry Garrido, CWA Native 1180 President Gloria Middleton, and UNITE HERE Native 100 President José Maldonado gathered at DC 37’s Decrease Manhattan headquarters on April 23 to endorse Speaker Adams within the June 24 Democratic mayoral main. They offered the speaker as a “no drama” chief who would defend town from Trump’s deep cuts to the social security web.
“At a time when we are dealing with bullies in Washington, we need a mayor who puts people first and individuals who can speak loudly about the challenges facing our city and the attacks on our residents, our neighbors,” mentioned James, who has had a lot of her personal battles with Trump over the previous few years.
Speaker Adams has been way more vocal about countering Trump’s funding cuts and concentrating on of undocumented immigrants than Mayor Eric Adams, who has as a substitute kept away from criticizing the president publicly.
Whereas Cuomo, the front-runner within the mayoral race, has forged Trump as an “existential threat” to town, the previous governor has supplied few specifics on how he would battle the president’s assaults.
The speaker herself charged that Cuomo wouldn’t act as a bulwark in opposition to Trump if he received as a result of he had not criticized the president sharply sufficient since launching his marketing campaign in early March. She additionally railed in opposition to him for receiving contributions from Trump donors each via his marketing campaign and a brilliant PAC supporting his candidacy.
“When people tell you that they’re going to stand up to Donald Trump yet you don’t hear a whisper from them, what does that tell you about someone who is trying to reinvent themselves as a strong man who will save the city of New York but did nothing to save the state of New York?” the speaker mentioned.
Cuomo’s marketing campaign declined to remark. Prior to now, they’ve argued he’s the candidate finest positioned to go head-to-head with Trump as a result of he did in order governor for 4 years.
Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.Picture by Ethan Stark-Miller
James framed Speaker Adams as a robust counterweight to Cuomo, whom she painted as a determine of the previous, solely working to redeem his repute fairly than enhance town.
“She’s stepping up at a time of chaos and confusion, not out of political motivation or political revenge or even redemption, but a commitment to proudly state and proudly defend out loud, this city, its residents, and all of the programs and services that it offers,” James mentioned. “I’m looking forward to someone who’s going to put confidence over chaos and results over ego, people over politics.”
Cuomo’s mayoral marketing campaign marks his return to politics after resigning amid a number of allegations of sexual harassment in 2021, which he denies. His resignation got here shortly after James launched a report discovering 11 of the accusations in opposition to him credible — findings that Cuomo’s crew argues have been discredited within the courts.
Regardless of Cuomo’s commanding lead, Garrido mentioned he believes Speaker Adams can overcome the previous governor each with the backing of DC 37, which represents 150,000 municipal staff and 87,000 retirees, and by using town’s ranked-choice voting system.
The union additionally endorsed Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani (D-Queens) and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) as candidates voters ought to rank second and third, respectively.
The speaker has struggled to realize momentum after coming into the race late and is behind Mamdani and metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander within the polls.
Garrido mentioned the union’s membership rejected Cuomo after he utilized for its backing primarily due to adjustments he made to the state pension system as governor generally known as Tier 6, which raised the retirement age and reduce advantages. Cuomo pitched the reform as a vital cost-saving measure for the state on the time.
“Tier 6 was fresh on the minds of so many workers,” Garrido mentioned. “Part of the reason we believe we’ve had such a tough time recruiting and retaining young workers in particular is because of the changes into our pensions of Tier 6 that we’ve been trying for the last two legislative sessions to fix…We don’t forget that.”
