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Bursting onto the scene as an energetic and innovative political candidate, New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has quickly made a name for himself. As a man who appears to want to get things done for the city he loves, Mamdani has even been able to charm the likes of President Donald Trump with his charisma. However, the same cannot be said regarding the current mayor of New York, the embattled Eric Adams.
Swamped in his own scandals, Adams ran a middling campaign for reelection during the 2025 mayoral runoff, eventually dropping out of the race in September after allegedly speaking with Trump officials about a position in his administration. Nonetheless, just because he quit campaigning didn’t mean Adams would keep his mouth shut, and he certainly let his true feelings about Mamdani be known.
According to PBS, Adams warned of “insidious forces” that were pushing “divisive agendas,” which felt like a thinly veiled barb in Mamdani’s direction. “I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promise, but by what they have delivered,” he continued, which felt eerily similar to a criticism he had of Mamdani earlier in the year.
In June, Adams popped into “Fox and Friends” to warn that Mamdani was a “snake oil salesman” by running on a campaign of promises ranging from rent freezes to free buses. Since Mamdani cleared the way to city hall with a historic win, Adams has upped the ante and is actively meddling with Mamdani’s potential to achieve his goals once in office. Though Mamdani is often the more composed politician, he still has had some choice words for the current mayor.
Eric Adams is trying to make Zohran Mamdani’s job difficult
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Though the truth about Eric Adams is at times a bit tricky to parse out, two things have remained consistent — his arrogance and his pettiness. In what could be seen as an attempt to sabotage Zohran Mamdani before he can even be sworn in as mayor, Adams is laying the foundation to hamper some of the progressive policies he campaigned on.
A pinnacle of Mamdani’s electoral success was the promise of affordable housing. One step toward this goal would be to utilize a piece of property technically owned by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Currently, the spot in Little Italy is the Elizabeth Street Garden, which was initially slated to be returned to the city in 2024. Mamdani was working to build affordable housing units there, with 40% of them going to people who were previously homeless and were leaving the shelter system. However, in November, Adams solidified his attempts to prevent this, getting the area permanently designated as parkland.
In a response to Adams’ perceived meddling, Mamdani told the press (via CBS), “It is no surprise that Mayor Adams is using his final weeks and months to cement a legacy of dysfunction and inconsistency.” Unfortunately, it seems as if Adams is not finished, despite his terrible approval rating which indicates that New Yorkers disagree with his actions. For instance, he’s been caught attempting to appoint his own allies to the Rent Guidelines Board to prevent Mamdani’s promise of a citywide rent freeze. No need to set the timer, this beef is just starting to heat up. Since incoming mayors are never allotted transitional funds to help them prepare for Day 1, people can donate to Mamdani’s team at Transition 2025.
