NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams is leaning toward endorsing Andrew Cuomo in the race for City Hall — but the incumbent doesn’t want to make any such announcement alone, instead weighing doing so alongside a group of supportive faith leaders, the Daily News has learned.
Brooklyn Rev. Conrad Tillard, a close ally to Adams who was a paid consultant on his since-suspended reelection campaign, disclosed the mayor’s wishes during a Zoom call Tuesday with dozens of other clergy members, according to multiple sources on the call.
Tillard told participants Adams had expressed he’d want to roll out any Cuomo endorsement in a public setting together with a contingent of faith leaders who, like Tillard, were Adams supporters before he dropped out of the race last month, the sources said.
On Wednesday, Tillard confirmed the call featured “diehard supporters of the mayor” who’d be willing to line up with him to endorse Cuomo if he wants them to.
“Anything he wishes to do we will support,” said Tillard, who was paid $30,000 to be a “clergy consultant” on Adams’ 2025 campaign, records show.
Tillard also told The News: “We have not completed our decision making yet on who we are going to support. It is true that many people in our group are very interested in the Cuomo campaign, especially in its goals to preserve programs started by Mayor Adams.”
Todd Shapiro, a spokesman for Adams, said he didn’t have any info about Tuesday’s call. In terms of a Cuomo endorsement from Adams, Shapiro said: “He’s not there yet.”
Others on the Tuesday call included Rev. Robert Waterman, who has publicly come out in favor of Cuomo since Adams dropped out.
Harlem Bishop Chantel Wright, who was also on the call and used to help lead reelection campaign rallies for Adams, said she isn’t yet sold on endorsing Cuomo, arguing she needs to hear more from the ex-governor on what he’d do as mayor to ensure religious leaders get continued “access” to City Hall.
“The reason we supported Eric Adams is because he gave us access,” Wright said, noting the mayor launched an office of faith-based and community partnerships at City Hall. “We weren’t supporting Eric just because he’s sexy and cute, we were supporting him because of his policies.”
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi declined to comment.
Early voting in the Nov. 4 mayoral election starts Saturday, putting some urgency around any backing Adams might offer.
Before he ditched his reelection bid, Adams was polling last in the mayoral race, clinching just about 10% support amid heightened public concern about his federal corruption indictment, relationship with President Trump and surrounding controversies.
While he was still a 2025 candidate, Adams was harshly critical of Cuomo, accusing him of leading the effort to push him out of the race while calling him “a snake and a liar.”
The latest behind-the-scenes machinations around a Cuomo endorsement comes as the ex-governor scrambles to assemble a winning coalition ahead of the election, which Democratic mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is the favorite to win, polls have consistently projected.
Tillard, the Brooklyn pastor, said Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is a non-starter for many clergy members because of his positions on sex work and other issues.
“These are antithetical to our values,” he said.
After Adams exited the race, Cuomo, who’s running as an independent, made up some ground on Mamdani. Still, the ex-gov continues to trail Mamdani by double digits in most polls.
Needing to grow his coalition, Cuomo has recently put pressure on Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to pull out of the race, arguing that’d give him a better shot at beating Mamdani as he’d be able to attract some of the GOP candidate’s voters. Sliwa has been steadfast in saying he will not leave the race under any circumstance.
Adams ended his reelection bid Sept. 28 after also facing pressure to step out to maximize Cuomo’s chances.
In an appearance on Polish-language RAMPA TV Wednesday morning, Adams stopped short of endorsing Cuomo, but signaled some support for the ex-governor.
“I’m going to fight to keep socialism out of our city,” Adams said, a reference to Mamdani, before arguing Sliwa “doesn’t have the experience to run a city this complicated.”
That’d leave Cuomo as the sole anti-Mamdani alternative left in the race, but when asked directly if he’ll endorse the former governor, Adams demurred.
“If we’re gonna get involved in this race, I will let it be known officially,” he said.
_____
