Mayor Eric Adams on Monday telling New Yorkers to make sure they cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election.
“My prediction is that New Yorkers are going to get out and vote. And I just want to encourage people to don’t be on the sideline and say I wish I would’ve. The name of the game: get out and vote,” Adams said.
Adams, a Democrat, earlier this year endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, but earlier today he refused to say her name.
“I made it clear who I endorsed and who I endorsed is who I’m voting for. I made that very clear. I was a delegate in Chicago,” he said.
“Is there a final pitch you have for voters in support of your endorsed candidate going into the polls tomorrow?” NY1 asked Adams.
He responded, “Get out the vote.”
The mayor explained that his refusal to name Harris at his weekly question-and-answer session with reporters is due to the conflicts political questions pose to him in his official capacity as mayor speaking inside City Hall.
In August, former Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg took issue with political questions at the weekly event, citing a conflicts-of-interest rule that prohibits city time and resources from being used for campaign activities.
“I have to be careful if I’m doing electioneering here at this podium. You’re going to write a story on me,” he said.
“My legal team said here’s what you can do and here’s what you can’t do and I have to make sure I do it correctly,” he added.
Separately, Adams said the city is ready to respond to any election issues that might arise on Tuesday. The mayor said two officers will be at each polling site.
“We’re professional enough, all of our agencies to make sure we respond to the challenge as that challenge comes up and those - the omnipresence of NYPD officers in uniform is a real great deterrent,” he said. “We’re not going to allow people to get in and disrupt our process.”
One reassurance the mayor was able to give ahead of the election is that immigrants in the city will continue to be protected, no matter the result.
“People who are undocumented, migrants, asylum seekers, no matter who you are you have a right to police services, you have a right to city services, you’re children have a right to be educated in our school system, you have a right to get healthcare and emergencies that you need,” he said. “This is a city of immigrants if not a country of immigrants and we’re going to maintain that.”
New York City is a sanctuary city, which means agencies have limited communication with immigration authorities.