NYC Mayor Kicks Off Reelection Campaign

Hundreds of people gathered at City Hall on Thursday as Mayor Eric Adams officially kicked off his reelection campaign. 

Adams emphasized his experience, portraying himself as a solutions-oriented, roll-up-your-sleeves candidate and dismissed his opponent Zohran Mamdani, the presumed winner of the Democratic primary, without mentioning his name. 

“This election is a choice,” he said. “A choice between someone who delivered lower crime, the most jobs in history, the most new housing built in decades, and an assemblymember who did not pass a bill.”

Focusing on his record—and sidestepping the various controversies that marred his first term—Adams sold himself as a safe and effective choice in what is certain to be a fiercely contested general election in November.

“They talk about problems. I fix them. That’s the difference,” Adams said. “You don’t lead this city from a soapbox. You lead it from the ground up, with action, not rhetoric.”

Several supporters who spoke at the rally decried the perils of socialism—a not-so veiled sleight against Mamdani, a Socialist Democrat. 

Adams paid no small attention to the recent decline in gun violence, his expansion of affordable housing and mental health programs. During his second term, Adams promised more of the same, stressing his unique fitness to continue the ongoing work of his own administration.

With his supporters, including many faith leaders chanting “Four More Years,” in the background, Adams reminded the crowd that the race is far from over. 

“It didn’t stop on June 24. It started on June 24,” he said.

One protester, who disrupted the mayor’s speech by calling him a criminal before being escorted out, elicited a slick response from Adams: “So, you can call me all the names you want, but I’m going to answer to only one: Mayor Adams.”

Adams, who entered office as a Democrat in 2022, is running for reelection as an independent. He will face off against the presumptive Democratic nominee Mamdani, as well as Curtis Sliwa, Jim Walden, and possibly former Governor Andrew Cuomo.