Mayor Eric Adams is abandoning his re-election campaign after failing to gain traction in his third-party bid for another four years in New York City’s Gracie Mansion, saying the press corps and the city’s Campaign Finance Board made it difficult for him to raise money. 

“I cannot continue my re-election campaign. The constant media speculation about my future and the Campaign Finance Board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign,” Mr. Adams declared in a video posted on X in which he sat on a staircase inside the mansion next to a large photo of his mother. 

“I hope that over time, New Yorkers will see this city thrived under our leadership,” he added.

Mr. Adams declined to endorse any of the other candidates vying to succeed him, though he offered a veiled warning about the Democratic nominee, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. 

He referenced Mr. Mamdani as representing “extremism” in New York. “Beware of those who claim the answer [is] to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change — that is chaos,” Mr. Adams said. “I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promise, but by what they have delivered.”

The mayor did not mention specifics about his political future, though he had reportedly been in talks this summer with representatives of President Trump who suggested he abandon his bid for a spot in the administration. While Mr. Adams never confirmed those conversations, he said Sunday that he was not finished with public life. 

“I want to be clear, although this is the end of my campaign, this will not be the end of my public service,” the mayor said.

“I will keep fighting for our city no matter what because I am a New Yorker.”

Mr. Adams, who narrowly won the Democratic primary for mayor in 2021, entered office with relatively high favorable ratings from fellow New Yorkers. According to polling by Quinnipiac University, Mr. Adams started his tenure in January 2022 with a 46 percent approval rating and a 27 percent disapproval rating. 

However, he saw his approval rating plummet after being placed under investigation for allegedly taking favors from Turkish officials in exchange for favors in City Hall. By the end of 2023, after the New York Times reported that he was the subject of a federal corruption investigation, Mr. Adams’s approval rating had fallen to 28 percent, while 58 percent disapproved. 

After he was indicted in September 2024, his favorable rating fell even further. The same poll found in March 2025 that his approval rating had tumbled to 20 percent — the lowest approval for any mayor in the history of Quinnipiac’s polling. Several Democrats quickly lined up to challenge him in this year’s primary, and he announced he would run as an independent instead.

In a city where nearly 69 percent of registered voters are Democrats, another major candidate in the race, Republican Curtis Sliwa, confirmed on Sunday that he would not drop out of the race in order to consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote. He responded to Mr. Adams’s announcement by saying that he is the “only candidate who can defeat” Mr. Mamdani, who is polling at 45 percent according to the most recent Suffolk University CityView survey.

“Our team, our resources, and our funding are unmatched. Most importantly, we have the best solutions to help working people afford to stay in New York City and feel safe,” his spokesman, Daniel Kurzyna, told the New York Sun.

Another independent candidate, Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, issued a statement praising Mr. Adams’s life story and cautioning against his remaining opponents. 

“The choice Mayor Adams made today was not an easy one, but I believe he is sincere in putting the well-being of New York City ahead of personal ambition,” Mr. Cuomo said. “We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them.”

Mr. Mamdani, in a statement, countered that Mr. Cuomo would just be more of the same if elected.

“New York deserves better than trading in one disgraced, corrupt politician for another,” Mr. Mamdani said. “On November 4th, we are going to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas and deliver a government every New Yorker can be proud of.”

According to the Suffolk University poll, Mr. Mamdani holds a commanding lead against Messrs. Cuomo and Sliwa, who surveyed at 25 and nine percent, respectively, while Mr. Adams was polling at eight percent. Thirteen percent of voters polled said they were opting for another candidate, were undecided or declined to state a preference.