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The Jewish vote will be NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ secret weapon to become the ‘Chosen’ candidate and pull off an upset victory in November – despite a new poll indicating otherwise, Hizzoner predicted in an exclusive sit-down this week, excerpted below, with The Post’s Rich Calder in Gracie Mansion.
During the 20-minute, wide-ranging interview, long-shot Adams said a Marist University poll released Tuesday showing him having just 17% support in the race from Jewish voters is hogwash.
The embattled mayor said he hasn’t received, doesn’t expect, and doesn’t want help in the race from President Trump.
The moderate Democrat boasted about how his administration drove down crime and helped bring New York out of the pandemic, but admitted to making plenty of mistakes — including having poor judgment backing key hires that spurred a now-closed federal corruption probe and allegations of the NYPD being run like a “criminal enterprise.”
He insisted his rival, socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, is a phony who “mastered the art of saying anything” — including lies — to win over voters.
Q: There’s been reports you are dropping out of the race, which your camp has denied. Do you commit to being in this race and campaigning until the end, and is there anything that would change it?
A: That’s my desire, and I’ve tried to be as communicative as possible. I was just talking about the assassination [of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk] that took place a few days ago. Tomorrow’s not a promise to us, you know. I can only tell you my desire. My desire right now is not to see our city go in the wrong direction and to continue this run. And I’ve stated it over and over again. People say, well, you know, you were offered the job as ambassador [to Saudi Arabia]. That’s just not true. I was not offered to go to HUD. That’s not true. I didn’t go to Yankee Stadium to meet with Donald Trump. That’s not true. So, no matter what I say, it seems like in the universe people have made up their opinions. So all I can say is my desire, as we sit here today, is to run until November 4th.
Q: Polls . . . have you ranked fourth. Why do you feel that’s the case? What can you do over the next six weeks to change that?
A: Polls change often … I think about Mark Green and Michael Bloomberg. I think Mark was up 14 points [in the 2001 mayoral race, but he lost to Bloomberg]. I think about my [2021 race], being in third place. I think about where Andrew Cuomo was [in the Democratic primary]; 87% of the polymarketers had him winning the race … So these polls change.
I was at an event the other day. I had a fundraiser, and the person said, ‘They told me you are taking the job in Saudi Arabia.’ All of this noise out there has really eroded the facts. Now, if we just focus on the policies, people won’t have that assumption. So I think how I’ve been covered, which is really unique in comparison to all the other candidates, I think it has really become a sixth opponent. You know, I’m not only running against the people who are running. I’m running against this other noise that’s out there.
Q: Can you clarify? I covered Bill de Blasio’s time as NYC mayor. The Post and other media outlets were critical of him.
A: Yeah, [they’re] supposed to be.
Q: So what do you think is different between you and de Blasio?
A: I think it’s totally different. When I’m out in the streets . . . ‘Eric, you’re leaving to go to Saudi Arabia.’ The public is reading that. The public is not going in depth. When they hear over and over again, it’s a foregone conclusion that Eric is no longer in the race, that’s going to impact them. That’s No. 1. Number 2: I never had a chance to get my message out. …The CFB [Campaign Finance Board] is controlling who the voters can vote for and whose message they’re going to hear. That’s just not how the system should work … Four million in [anticipated public matching funds] is lost. …That’s money that’s used to get your message out. That’s how you win races — when people can get your message out. My message has never been told.”
Q: Why do you think you’re polling behind Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani with Jewish voters right now? That is supposed to be one of your stronger bases.
A: Let’s be clear on something: polls normally go to ‘likely voters.’ I think this is going to be the highest election [turnout] in probably the history of the city. I think we could get up to 2 million people to come out to vote, and many of them are going to be Jewish voters. I hear from some of my Yeshivas that are now telling their parents when you drop your child off to register for school, you have to fill out this voter registration form. And so these are new voters; these are first-time voters, and I think there’s a population of voters that no one is polling — like they missed . . . those young voters that came out [for Mamdani] in the primary. And so I believe I’m going to get the overwhelming number of Jewish votes. They supported me as senator, [Brooklyn] borough president, and mayor. I don’t think that’s going to change.
Q: Is there anything that as mayor that you can do [to make Jews feel safer]?
A: Yeah, we have. We were very clear on many levels, but one specifically with the Jewish community. . . . We put in place a Mayor’s Office to [Combat] Antisemitism. We focused on ridding our city of hate, what we’re doing over at the [NYPD] hate crimes unit, and then we send the large national message. You know, for someone to state that a national, international leader comes to our country, and you’re gonna arrest them [referring to Mamdani saying he will direct the NYPD, if mayor, to arrest Israel Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits NYC]? First of all, you don’t understand the laws. Diplomatic immunity is in place. You don’t have the authority to do so, but the symbol you’re sending out; you’re sending out that hate … He didn’t say that to the leader of Sudan, where you’re seeing real wars, or Yemen. No, he targeted a group – [after] being unwilling to say it was wrong to say ‘Globalize the Intifada.’ You know, this stuff starts to add up, and it’s no longer coded messages. It’s clear messages. And if you are a Jewish resident, you have to be alarmed by some of these positions.
Q: There’s been multiple corruption allegations swirling around your office the past three years – including the since-dropped federal indictment involving your campaign, and former Police Commissioner Thomas Donlan claiming you had him run the NYPD like a criminal enterprise. What is your message to voters who have serious concerns about this?
A: Listen, we make mistakes. I say it over and over again: 65 years of living; you make a ton of mistakes in 65 years (laughing). There are things you want to do differently. There’s things that you would probably say, ‘maybe I should have brought on this person to handle the job’. That’s it. All I can tell voters is, ‘Listen, sorry for any inconvenience, sorry for the distractions, but I never stopped working for voters.’ We preserved, built, and zoned our city for more housing than 12 years of Bloomberg, eight years of de Blasio combined, in three-and-a-half years. What we’ve done in crime . . . safest big city in America. What we’ve done for low-income New Yorkers — we put $30 billion back in the pockets of New Yorkers. People are talking about affordability. We made it happen from no income tax for low-income New Yorkers paying off medical debt; all of these things that we have done. And so what I want New Yorkers to do, what I’ve never had an opportunity to do is tell New Yorkers, ‘Yes, here’s mistakes I made, but look at what I’ve done for our city.’ I got us out of COVID; 237,000 migrants in asylum seekers, overproliferation of guns. We took almost 24,000 off our streets. I delivered for New Yorkers, in spite of all the things that were happening around me, and in fact, I never broke a law. I never did anything that violated my oath of office. And anyone who read that indictment, even scholars, walked away saying, ‘What the heck is this?’ A sitting mayor of New York? You’re going to indict him and put him in jail for 33 years for leg room and calling the Fire Department?
Q: What do you consider other big successes of your administration?
A: Universal after-school program, so important. First time ever — 100,000 summer youth jobs was crucial. High speed broadband in NYCHA for free, so they could do telemedicine and remote learning. Paying the college tuition for foster care children. As I say to build more housing … More jobs in New York in the history of the city. More small businesses are operating in the history of the city. When you start to look at how we turned around the economy, brought down crime, cleaned the city, even my favorite topic: rats, rat complaints are down … This city is not coming back. The city is back.
Q: What do you consider the biggest failures?
A: Ah, man. Any shooting is shooting too much. You know, I think that we want to continue to drive down crime, and really, probably controlling some of the noise that has been released from the office, you know? New Yorkers don’t need distraction when they’re moving forward and their lives.
Q: Since winning the primary, Mamdani has backtracked on previous lefty stances he took, including supporting the Defund the Police movement. Do you think . . . New Yorkers should believe him when he claims he’ll back off such stances?
A: He has mastered the art of saying anything that needs to be said to be … elected. That is what he is doing … First of all, academically, he’s a smart person. So when you know you can’t do the things you’re promising, then you’re hurting people who are going to be looking for that relief. He knows he can’t decrease rent in NYCHA, in Mitchell-Lama [housing], in any building where your subsidies are based on your income. He knows that. He knows he can’t give people free buses because of the price tag of $3 billion. He knows that. He knows that it’s wrong to remove 3,000 people from Rikers Island, the most dangerous people we have in our city, without it harming the communities they’re going to go back into and prey on. Like, he knows this, but he’s doing it anyway, because it’s about he just wants to get elected.
Q: President Trump recently said he’s resigned to the idea that Mamdani will be New York City’s next mayor? How does that make you feel?
A: It doesn’t make me feel at all. When you go back, during the [Democratic] primary …how many people were resigned to Cuomo being mayor when he was 36 points up in the poll? It was a foregone conclusion … Everyone felt we were just going through the motions. That’s just not how life is.
Q: The time we spoke in July you said the president had not offered to help your campaign. Since then, have you spoken?
A: No.
Q: Are you expecting any type of assistance from the president or his camp? Are you upset you haven’t gotten any yet?
A: I am not upset at all. It is my job to get re-elected. It is not the obligation or the responsibility of the president. It’s my job. I have to convince voters, so there’s no anger or upset at all.
Q: Do you think Trump or the Republican Party in general is quietly hoping Mamdani wins so it can use mistakes they believe he’ll make as mayor as a rallying cry for Republicans to win future elections?
A: I don’t think so. New York is too important to the country. The way goes New York goes America, and so I don’t think they want our country to go backwards.
Q: Did you think Gov. Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani will lead to the White House punishing New York in any way?
A: I would hope not, and I don’t think so. Again, New York is important to the country.
Q: On the ballot, you’ve listed your name as an independent under the “Safe&Affordable/EndAntiSemitism” line. That’s a lot of words. Any concern it confuses voters?
A: No (laughing).
Q: If you were not seeking re-election and went to the polls and saw Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, Mamdani and Cuomo on the mayoral ballot, who would you vote for?
A: I would write in Eric Adams (laughing).
Q: Let’s go . . . beyond elections. You kept the Bronx casino plan alive with a key veto in July. Assuming existing racinos win two of the three downstate casino bids as many assume, do you think the Bronx site is the most viable site downstate, or are there others you prefer?
A: I think all of them should be considered. I did not want to take the Bronx out of play. That was wrong. If they would have done that to the Manhattan site, or any other site, the Queens site or the Brooklyn site, I would have done the same thing. It’s wrong to allow one council person to take what’s going to impact that entire borough.
Q: Nine months later, any regrets about congestion pricing?
A: I haven’t got a report of all the numbers. I still say that we should look at some waivers from some groups of New Yorkers, but we haven’t looked at the numbers yet.
Q: There’s a new City Council bill introduced by James Gennaro (D-Queens) to ban adding fluoride to the city’s water. The city would then supply fluoride supplements to residents who ask. What do you think of that idea?
A: It’s been a longtime a debate around fluoride. I don’t have enough medical understanding of the impact, if we do, we don’t. I always felt fluoride was needed, and I would go with the medical experts over at the [NYC Health Department].
Q: Would you say this mayor’s race is the biggest fight of your political life?
A: I’d say no. I had some tough battles, you know, in politics, and I don’t define my life with a profession, political life, because I’m fortunate. I’m the mayor. Everyone that’s running for mayor wants to be mayor. I am the mayor. I already won (laughing). I already won. Right now, this is all gravy, what happens next. I want to finish the job, but New Yorkers will make the final determination. But this has been a great, great ride. (laughing) Think about it.
