Andrew Cuomo is not a candidate for mayor — at least not yet. But he is quickly becoming a central figure in the race.

Already, he’s the target of attack ads.

“Hey Andrew, you must have thought we forgot about everything, huh?” goes one ad launched this week by the group United for a Brighter Tomorrow. “I mean, you lied about the deaths of thousands of seniors.”

The declared candidates, meanwhile, are treating him like the frontrunner while the incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, sees his political fortunes decline.

Adams is set to go on trial on federal corruption charges in April and has drawn criticism from Democrats for his overtures toward President Donald Trump.

A recent campaign memo from City Comptroller Brad Lander on the state of the race focused almost exclusively on Cuomo, who dominates the field in several privately commissioned polls. 

A poll last week from the national opinion research firm Bold Decision showed Cuomo with 33 percent support, 23 points ahead of Adams, his next closest competitor.

Since resigning the governorship more than three years ago in scandal, Cuomo never entirely left the public eye — hosting a podcast, making appearances at predominantly Black churches and speaking out forcefully against anti-Semitism.

Cuomo occupies much the same political space as Adams. Both men frame themselves as common-sense Democrats, denouncing the excesses of the left while focusing on issues like crime — though in Cuomo’s case, it can come off as a knock on the current administration.

“Crime is an ongoing problem,” he told the congregation at Bedford Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn in September.  “And it is seemingly everywhere today. People are afraid to take the subway.”

Adams has increasingly faced questions about Cuomo. In a recent interview, he alluded to Cuomo’s support for bail reform, an increasingly unpopular policy. He made reference to the Cuomo political dynasty when asked at a recent news conference about Cuomo’s lead in the polls: “When you look at some of the people that ran for office, they inherited empires,” he said. “I didn't.”

And he often notes he overcame another mayoral frontrunner by the same name in 2021: Andrew Yang, who led the race by double digits before seeing his campaign fizzle out.

Cuomo certainly has baggage. He resigned in August 2021 after a report from the state attorney general substantiated numerous allegations of sexual harassment, though Cuomo has denied wrongdoing. And his handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes has come under scrutiny, including by a hostile Republican-led House subcommittee.

“When were you negotiating for your multi-million dollar advance deal for your book as seniors were dying in nursing homes?” Rep. Elise Stefanik asked during a contentious hearing in September. “That is the question in front of you.”

Still, Cuomo would benefit from almost universal name recognition, millions of dollars in unspent campaign funds, a mayor weakened by federal charges and some recent positive developments.

One of his accusers, Charlotte Bennett, recently dropped her federal lawsuit, and a federal report found the Trump administration in 2020 targeted Cuomo’s COVID-19 policies to influence the presidential election.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi calls talk of a mayoral run premature, but has also pushed back on criticism.

Of the recent attack ads, he said in a statement, “New Yorkers aren't stupid and this DSA-affiliated astroturf organization from Georgia is not going to tell them what to think, but hey, if they want to light their dark money on fire, so be it.”

Meanwhile, allies like former top aide Melissa DeRosa have stoked the fires.

“There are a lot of people reaching out to him. I think that people feel the city is in crisis right now,” she said during an interview on NY1 in October. “I think that they miss having a grown-up who can get things done.”

Cuomo will likely have to make a decision by Feb. 25, the start of the signature-gathering process required of candidates for the primary.