After several days of a self-enforced public quarantine for unexplained health reasons, Mayor Eric Adams re-emerged on Thursday, his spirits apparently improved.
The criminal case against him may be on the ropes: The Trump administration is discussing dropping the federal corruption charges against the mayor. And as he took the stage at an interfaith breakfast, a newly invigorated Mr. Adams sought to dispel rumors of any imminent resignation.
“Who started this stupid rumor that I’m resigning on Friday,” the mayor said in a fiery speech before hundreds of clergy members on Thursday. Some cheered him on. A clergyman at the podium chanted “four more years!” A smattering of audience members responded in kind.
He only briefly referenced the health issues his office has said kept him out of the public spotlight.
“Last week was a scary week for me, I’m not going to lie,” he said, without elaborating.
The mystery over his health and the discussions surrounding Mr. Adams’s criminal case have threatened to further destabilize a mayor’s race already mired in the uncertainty shrouding Mr. Adams’s fate.
Questions quickly followed on the heels of Wednesday’s news: Would the Department of Justice pressure the Southern District of New York to drop the charges, just weeks after the office said it had more evidence of “criminal conduct” by the mayor?
Closer to home, would these developments dissuade former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, whose base overlaps with Mr. Adams’s, from entering the race?
And given all of these machinations, how serious were the health problems that kept Mr. Adams from maintaining a public schedule this week (even as he quietly met with union leaders on topics that included his campaign)?
There were few immediate answers and little clarity on how Mr. Adams’s legal issues might be resolved.
“The mayor’s current legal troubles and speculation surrounding unannounced candidates have paralyzed the race,” said Shontell Smith, a Democratic political consultant who is unaffiliated with any of the campaigns.
Mr. Adams was indicted in September on five counts of political corruption, following a yearslong investigation by prosecutors with the Southern District.
Mr. Adams pleaded not guilty and has since argued that former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s Justice Department was retaliating against him for his criticism of Mr. Biden’s immigration policies. (The investigation began in 2021, before Mr. Adams was mayor and before the influx of migrants into New York City.)
Even so, Mr. Trump has proved receptive to Mr. Adams’s arguments, which mirror his own complaints that he is the victim of a politicized justice system.
Mr. Trump has suggested he might be open to pardoning the mayor. And on Wednesday, The New York Times reported that senior Justice Department officials have held discussions with federal prosecutors in Manhattan about the possibility of dropping their corruption case against Mr. Adams.
Any resolution of the mayor’s legal peril would certainly grant him a new breath of political life as he seeks a second term this year. He would be freed from a heavily publicized trial, now scheduled for April, and would still have several months before June’s Democratic primary to try to convince voters he was unfairly maligned all along.
A spokesman for Mr. Adams’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But his advisers believe he has a record of accomplishment and an aggressive style that will help him rebuild his winning 2021 coalition and overcome his flagging poll numbers.
It is not clear if those advisers are right.
“Whether Eric Adams escapes federal charges or not, the bottom line is he can’t escape an abysmal record as mayor, and the voters will have the final say,” said Scott M. Stringer, a former city comptroller running for mayor.
Recent polls have shown Mr. Adams trailing several actual and potential contenders, including Mr. Cuomo. The mayor’s opponents like to point out that a majority of New Yorkers disapproved of his performance as mayor even before he was indicted.
The candidates running against Mr. Adams have questioned where the mayor’s loyalties lie, following his trips to visit Mr. Trump in Florida and to Washington for the inauguration.
“Eric Adams’s priorities are clear,” said Jessica Ramos, a state senator from Queens. “He is uninterested in defending New Yorkers from the White House’s chaos. Probably because their mismanagement and corruption is something he can identify with.”
Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, another mayoral candidate, said in a statement, “Eric Adams sold out New York City to avoid accountability for serious allegations of corruption.”
He added, “It was a pathetic gambit, especially while Trump wages war on working-class New Yorkers, but it appears to have worked.”
If the charges against Mr. Adams are dropped or if he receives a pardon, Mr. Cuomo’s path to entering the race could be complicated. Both men have relied on support from Black voters, placing them in direct competition.
An October poll from The Times and Siena College found that 61 percent of Black voters felt that Mr. Adams had done something illegal or unethical, compared with 76 percent of all voters. In the same poll, 23 percent of Black registered Democrats said they would vote for Mr. Cuomo, compared with just 15 percent for Mr. Adams.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment.
Bertha Lewis, the president of the Black Institute, said that Black voters would not be happy with the way Mr. Adams has cozied up to Mr. Trump.
“That trip to the inauguration is just a slap in Black people’s faces,” Ms. Lewis said. “For me, it’s over. It’s just one thing after another. What kind of deal would he have to make? It’s heartbreaking, and it makes me angry.”
But Christina Greer, a professor at Fordham University, argued Black voters might be more forgiving of Mr. Adams surviving his legal troubles thanks to Mr. Trump’s good graces.
“I don’t see Black voters begrudging him a pardon when we’ve seen so many white politicians negotiate themselves out of far worse situations for generations,” Ms. Greer said.
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