Mayor Eric Adams may hold an unusually low-key game in New York City, compete in the Democratic primary and conduct an independent general election without a campaign manager.
But behind the scenes, he is playing an active role in trying to shape the areas he likes and stick to the key voting group.
Mr. Adams’ supreme assistant, Menashe Shapiro, has been calling on Orthodox Jewish leaders in recent weeks, urging them not to support Andrew M in the June 24 Democratic primary election.
Mr. Adams’ allies said they believe that if Democratic Socialist MP Zohran Mamdani now beats Mr. Cuomo with a second-place vote and becomes a Democratic candidate, he will have a greater chance of winning the election.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adams used his mayoral power to produce policy statements that seemed to resonate with some Orthodox Jews. He signed an executive order to recognize the International Holocaust Memorial Union’s definition of anti-Semitism and established the mayor’s office to combat anti-Semitism to address the spikes in the city’s anti-Semitism hate crimes.
“He is looking for support from people for the election,” said Rabbi Moishe Indig, a faction leader of the Satmar Hasidic Group in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “He wants everyone to ignore the primary and wait until the fall.”
The mayor’s efforts have achieved different results. The competition leader Mr. Cuomo has introduced a series of recognition from the important Orthodox Rabbis in Brooklyn and Queens in recent days, but has lost it to others.
The mayor’s influence shows that he sees an opportunity to try to undercut his main competitor and bring a case ahead of the election that his own candidacy is still viable.
A consultant said Mr. Adams’ long-distance victory road was determined by his victory support from the church’s black New Yorkers and Orthodox Jews, who often voted heavily as a group. It also depends on enough New Yorkers to give Mr. Adams a pass on his federal criminal charges, and he successfully lobbyed the Trump administration to give up.
On Tuesday, Mr. Adams raised the idea that Mr. Cuomo had any holdings on the Orthodox voting.
“He’s going to take two or three people from a community, and he’s going to give the impression that, oh, he has the entire community,” Mr. Adams said. “That’s not reality.”
Mr. Cuomo’s spokesman Rich Azzopardi shot backwards and said: “We’re not surprised that the mayor tried to play the game behind the scenes. He would say and do anything to his personal welfare – remember, this is the same guy who sold New York City with Donald Trump in a quirky New York City.”
Mr. Adams and the Orthodox community have various forms of publicity. He collected petitions and ran on two voting lines, i.e., wills, safe and affordable. (A spokesman for the state election commission said state election rules would require him to choose one or the other.
His team also highlighted the positions of other candidates who believe will be unpopular in the Orthodox community.
The first debate among Democratic candidates was held on the night of the game, with Menashe Shapiro sending a message to Orthodox Jewish leaders highlighting the candidate’s demands that immigration authorities release Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil in custody. These included a social media post from a journalist that highlighted Mr. Cuomo’s position that Mr. Khalil should be released.
A spokesperson for the city hall did not immediately comment. “Menash is entitled to his personal beliefs,” said Todd Shapiro. The mayor took the position that he would not comment on federal immigration action.
Days after the debate, Mr. Adams joined Dr. Phil McGraw, an enthusiastic supporter of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, at the lower synagogue in Manhattan, where he signed an executive order to recognize the International Holocaust Memorial Coalition’s definition of anti-Semitism.
“The call for a globalization uprising is evil hate speech, but this type of speech has been normalized and the campus must stop it from continuing,” Mr. Adams said.
According to that definition, actions that qualify as anti-Semitism include accusing Jews of exaggerating the Holocaust, describing Israel as “racists,” or putting all Jews responsible for Israel’s actions. He suggested that the executive order would not affect law enforcement activities, but would instead allow the city hall to “destroy” nonprofits funded by certain cities.
Mr. Adams’ spokeswoman did not elaborate on the repression. “The procurement process of the contract is done with the lowest bidders, and that’s still the law,” she said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said Mr. Adams “is fighting a weapon for anti-Semitism’s critical struggle to suppress protected political rhetoric that he doesn’t like.”
Kayla Mamelak Altus, the mayor’s spokesman, said Mr. Adams was just doing what he had been doing.
“As mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel, Mayor Adams has been standing with the Jewish community in New York City – not only working to improve and empower them, but also facing the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism since October 7, 2023,” she said.
Mr. Cuomo has gained basic Jewish support in Williamsburg and Brooklyn’s Crown Heights community and Far Rockaway in Queens, despite being upset with his policies during the pandemic.
But he lost to Adrienne Adams on Monday night in City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to gain recognition from some Jewish leaders in Borough Park. There are two people familiar with the matter, who, like others, refused to discuss private conversations in the records, said, endorsed after Menashe Shapiro urged community leaders to support anyone other than Cuomo.
Orthodox Councilor Kalman Yeger, who once represented the district as a city councillor, severely criticized Ms. Adams’ choice as “irresponsible” and believed she was not a friend of Jewish New Yorker.
Although he did not explicitly accuse City Hall of approval, he said it was obvious that the choice “has nothing to do with Adrienne Adams.”
A spokesperson for Ms. Adams declined to comment.
During a Sunday event with Dr. Phil, Rabbi Inland neatly illustrates some of the dynamics between Mr. Adams, Mr. Cuomo and the fields. Rabbi Indig is one of Mr. Adams’ closest allies in the Orthodox community, standing on the stage at Mr. Adams’ 2021 Victory Party.
“We will come out and express our strong support to our great mayor and brother Eric Adams,” he told the mayor.
The next day, he joined Ms. Adams in recognition of Mr. Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
Rabbi Indig said in an interview that he knew Mr. Adams wanted Mr. Cuomo to fail, but he would approve of the former governor anyway.
“I know what he wants, I know how he feels,” Rabbi Indig said. “But when he was still governor, we had a good relationship with Cuomo.”
In a nod to the lobbying efforts of Adams team, Rabbi Indig said he was considering adding him to his spokesperson despite the outspoken Israeli criticism of Israel by lawmakers, which alienated other orthodox leaders.
“He met a very good guy, very modest,” he said of Mr. Mandani. “Based on my conversation, he told me that he was not an anti-Semitism and that he would work with the entire city, all the communities.
It is unclear whether the rabbi’s outback endorsement will exceed the Democratic primary.
“Autumn? God knows,” he said. “No one knows what happens in autumn.”
