Mayor Eric Adams on Monday said it's his race to lose in November and he isn’t going anywhere — despite pressure from rival and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

“I have an opportunity to go one-on-one with [Zohran] Mamdani," he said.

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Eric Adams on Monday said it's his race to lose in November and he isn’t going anywhere — despite pressure from rival and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo

  • Not only does the mayor think Cuomo should drop out, but he also believes the other non-Democratic candidates in the race should coalesce around him to defeat Zohran Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee

  • Cuomo's campaign called Adams “unelectable"

The mayor made the comments while talking about his reelection bid in a morning interview on CNBC. 

Adams said Cuomo asked him to step down.

“I said, 'Andrew, are you that level of arrogance? I’m the sitting mayor of the city of New York and you expect me to step aside when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points,'" he said. 

Not only does the mayor think Cuomo should drop out, but he also believes the other non-Democratic candidates in the race should coalesce around him to defeat Mamdani.

Since clinching the Democratic nomination, Mamdani has faced an increasing backlash from critics over policy proposals that include providing free buses and freezing rent. 

“I think Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa should rally behind me. I’m the only one in this race right now that has won as mayor," Adams said.

But Cuomo’s campaign fired back, calling the mayor “unelectable.”

“We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams. This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers,” Rich Azzopardi, the campaign spokesman, wrote in a statement Monday.  

The idea of candidates coalescing around one person was first proposed by Jim Walden, a lesser-known independent candidate in the race last week.  

Walden's proposal calls for a poll to be conducted weeks before the election to decide the “frontrunner” among the other candidates against Mamdani.

“All four candidates would commit at this point to say whoever the frontrunner is, whether it's by a margin of 20 points or two-tenths-of-a percent, that the poll would essentially be the catalyst for the candidates coming together to say that everyone should vote for the frontrunner," Walden said.

Currently, it's a five-way race in the November election. 

Sliwa, who is the Republican on the ballot, has insisted he isn’t dropping out. 

Meanwhile, political and business leaders joined together on Monday to show support for coalescing, including former Gov. David Paterson. 

“I’m surprised at the number of people who accepted that he won the primary because that’s party politics. What we’re talking about is the politics of actually running the government, politics of actually improving the quality of life for New York's 9 million citizens,” he said.  

In a statement, Mamdani's campaign said, “More than 545,000 New Yorkers voted for Zohran Mamdani, the most votes any Democratic primary candidate has received in 36 years. In the coming months, Zohran looks forward to growing this coalition and reaching new voters with his vision for an affordable New York City.”