As NYC mayor's race waits for Andrew Cuomo's decision, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams files papers to run
Thursday was a fateful day in New York City politics as two people who could upend the Democratic mayoral primary prepared to enter the fray.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said she is ready to throw her hat into the ring, as former Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued to tie up last-minute loose ends.
"The stakes are too high," Speaker Adams says
Speaker Adams wants to break the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to occupy Gracie Mansion, but first she, just like Cuomo, would have to go through Mayor Eric Adams, who has had his share of problems.
She issued some fighting words as she filed papers to enter the Democratic mayoral primary, firing an opening salvo at Mayor Adams. She claims he has lost his ability to fight the Trump administration on behalf of the city because the Department of Justice is moving to have charges against him dropped for now, which a former prosecutor believes is a quid pro quo deal.
"The stakes are too high to us to have a diminished mayoral administration," Speaker Adams said. "We know whoever the next mayor is, the target is already on New York City. My vision, though, is that New Yorkers do not become sacrifices to this dangerous administration."
The Cuomo-Hochul dynamic
Cuomo is ready for a meeting with his three daughters to get their approval to run. Current polls have him as a clear favorite, but the primary isn't until June 24.
The ability to fight Mr. Trump is also expected to be the calling card of the former governor.
If he prevails, he will have to deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul, with whom there is no love lost. She replaced him when he resigned after facing harassment charges. Hochul, who is already under fire for refusing to remove Mayor Adams, would not be drawn into the tantalizing question of how she could work with a Mayor Cuomo.
"My job as the governor of the state is to work with whomever the voters select as their candidate -- their nominee for mayor," Hochul said. "I've worked with Bill de Blasio. I've worked with Mayor Adams. My job is to work closely, unlike [in] the past, when it seemed like there always had to be this inherent battle between Albany and New York City."
Mayor Adams reminds everyone, "I got the crown"
Meanwhile Mayor Adams remained unperturbed by the rallies seeking his ouster or the expected entry of Speaker Adams and Cuomo into the race. CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer found a way to ask him about it on a day he wasn't taking off-topic questions.
"That's a sneaky way to get a question in," Mayor Adams said. "And so I don't care about all these people who are in the race. You know, you got, you got all these folks that are in the race. I can care less. You know, I got the crown. They're trying to get the crown that I have," the mayor said.
