OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: The indictment of Mayor Eric Adams is emboldening former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to jump into the crowded race for New York City mayor. Since last year Cuomo had signaled to some insiders he was disinclined to run against Adams, given their shared base of predominantly moderate, Black Democratic voters. But Cuomo’s calculus has shifted amid Adams’ deepening legal troubles, which crescendoed with today’s unsealing of a 5-count criminal indictment that alleged the mayor received favors and campaign contributions from the Turkish government in exchange for official actions. “I think he’s going to run,” said Chris Coffey, a former advisor to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg who ran Andrew Yang’s 2021 mayoral campaign. “He was probably going to run no matter what and a weakened, or out of the race Eric Adams, is a better bet for him.” Cuomo has reached out over the last year to people comprising the city’s political infrastructure, including business and labor leaders, about a run for mayor. “He has previously said he has no plans to make plans and that hasn’t changed,” said Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi. His political team has laid the groundwork by trying to give Cuomo an aura of inevitability, positing he would be a sure winner in a 90-day, nonpartisan special election if Adams were to leave office. Cuomo would, in part, rely on his near-universal name identification to dominate the field. He’s also likely to benefit from an open election in which independent voters could cast ballots. But Cuomo is also risk averse. He would not want to run for mayor or for his old job as governor unless it was a slam dunk. And he would bring his own baggage to his first political campaign in six years. Cuomo left office amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, which he has denied. He has also been slammed by a Republican-led House panel investigating his handling of the Covid pandemic and nursing home deaths during the public health crisis. Cuomo was accused by the subcommittee of inappropriately contacting a witness in order to influence his testimony. Azzopardi, the Cuomo spokesperson, called the claim “a true shark-jumping moment from the MAGA clown car.” Still, left-leaning advocates believe Cuomo would be rejected by voters. “In this moment, New Yorkers are craving a leader with the utmost integrity and Andrew Cuomo is not that,” New York Working Families Party Co-Director Jasmine Gripper said. There are questions, too, over whether he would be able to garner enough support from Black leaders and voters — a crucial part of his base. In a show of force, Adams this morning appeared alongside prominent Black civil rights leaders and clergy during a chaotic news conference at Gracie Mansion who insisted they would remain in the mayor’s fold. “I’m asking all New Yorkers to hear his side and let him have his day in court,” said Hazel Dukes, the president of the NAACP New York State Conference. Cuomo last weekend spoke at a Brooklyn church with a predominantly Black congregation and slammed left-leaning progressives and blasted the city’s migrant crisis as “out of control.” — Nick Reisman | 
