NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he's running for reelection as an independent

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is abandoning his party's primary and running for reelection as an independent, he said in a video posted to social media Thursday morning, a decision that comes as his fundraising has stalled and his poll numbers have tumbled while fellow Democratic challengers are surging.

After deflecting weeks of questions about whether he'd run as an independent instead of a Democrat and mounting no visible campaign, Adams made his announcement one day after a judge dismissed the corruption charges against him, at the behest of the Trump administration, with a blistering opinion assailing the federal government's reasoning.

Running as an independent extends Adams' time to gather necessary nominating petitions — Thursday was the deadline to run as a Democrat, and he's barely had any visible petitioning operation. His new deadline is now late May; he'll need 3,750 signatures.

Adams, in the video message, spoke of "New York's values," which he characterized as "pro-public safety, pro-worker, pro quality-of-life," and said they'd guide him in his campaign.

"I had hoped to fight for them again in a Democratic primary for mayor, and more than 25,000 New Yorkers signed my Democratic Party petition," he said. "But the dismissal of the bogus case against me dragged on too long, making it impossible to mount a primary campaign while these false accusations were held over me."

Adams has jumped between political parties before — he was a Democrat before switching to a Republican before returning again to the Democrats. In recent months, he hadn’t ruled out a switch again. New York City voters are overwhelmingly Democrats.

Polls have shown Adams trailing former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the Democratic primary and, recently, Assemb. Zohran Mamdani of Astoria as well.

"But I'm not a quitter, I'm a New Yorker," Adams said in the video. "That is why today, although I am still a Democrat, I am announcing that I will forgo the Democratic primary for mayor and appeal directly to all New Yorkers as an independent candidate in the general election."

Adams faces an uphill battle, with several of his big-name supporters — including labor unions, the Brooklyn Democratic Party and prominent Black leaders — switching to support Cuomo.

Adams has millions in his campaign coffers but has been denied public matching funds by the city’s campaign regulator, which has cited the allegations that got him indicted and other allegedly suspicious practices.

In September, Adams was charged by Manhattan federal prosecutors with defrauding the city’s campaign finance system and trading municipal favors in exchange for illegal political contributions from foreigners, as well as luxury travel. He had pleaded not guilty. In the days after the indictment, Adams began cozying up to Trump — a break from years of bashing him. He refused to criticize him publicly, met with him, and praised him. Within weeks, Trump said he'd consider a pardon.

But earlier this year, months before the trial was to begin, the Trump administration moved to have the case dismissed, in part, so that Adams could help execute President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Prosecutors overseeing the case balked — particularly at the administration’s caveat that the charges could be reinstated, incentivizing Adams to comply with Trump’s political demands. More than a half dozen resigned in protest. Adams and Trump said that the prosecution was political payback for Adams’ criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant crisis. On Wednesday, in dismissing the case, the judge repudiated such suggestions.

Adams — and most of the other candidates — appeared Thursday at a mayoral event hosted by the activist preacher the Rev. Al Sharpton.

A Quinnipiac poll last month showed Adams with a record-low approval rating — 20% — and that most city voters want him to resign.

When asked how he’d govern differently from Adams, particularly in the aftermath of Adams’ announcement, Cuomo didn't directly answer.

"I don’t want to compare myself to anyone," he said. "Mayor Adams, I believe, makes his decision, set his policy, put his administration in place, and I don’t want to second guess that."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.