Mayor Eric Adams issued a dire warning about the rise of political extremism as he dropped his re-election bid Sunday — in a clear dig at front-runner socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“Extremism is growing in our politics,” Adams said in a video from Gracie Mansion announcing he was bowing out of the November election. “Our children are being radicalized to hate our city and our country. Political anger is turning into political violence.
“Too often, these forces use local government to advance divisive agendas with little regard for how it hurts everyday New Yorkers.”
The comments were a swipe at Mamdani, the Democratic Party nominee — who is a member of the left-wing Democratic Socialists of America.
The DSA’s core philosophy is based on dismantling capitalism in America and replacing it with a socialist agenda, according to its website.
“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer to destroy the very system we built together over generations,” Adams warned.
“That is not change. That is chaos.”
Adams implored New Yorkers to elect leaders based on what they’ve actually done, and not lofty campaign promises.
“I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promised, but by what they have delivered,” Adams said. “Although this is the end of my reelection campaign, it is not the end of my public service.”
The 33-year-old Mamdani — a three-term Queens state assemblyman with few legislative wins — has proposed more than $9 billion in new spending for the Big Apple, with pie-in-the-sky promises including free childcare and buses and city-run grocery stores.
The former aspiring rapper, who had a few stints working on local campaigns before he first ran for the state Legislature in 2019, plans to pay for the freebies by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations — prompting major pushback, including from business and real estate groups.
Even some in the Democratic establishment haven’t fully embraced the plan, like Gov. Kathy Hochul — a recent endorser of Mamdani — who ridiculed some of the proposals and vowed not to raise taxes.
Mamdani, whose campaign is filled with young, DSA-aligned operatives, has refused to say if he backs the group’s radical planks, such as abolishing pre-trial detention and cash bail, closing all jails, including Rikers Island, and decriminalizing all petty offenses.
But since his massive upset win in the June Democratic primary, the front-runner has tried to distance himself from some of his past extremist views, such as his calls to “defund the police.”
In the draft version of Adams speech, obtained by The Post, the mayor also took a veiled swipe at ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but that ding was notably left out of the final video.
Adams was originally slated to say that politicians who continuously flip-flop on issues “cannot be trusted.”
Sources said that line was aimed at Cuomo — who has backtracked on issues such as his support of bail reform and congestion pricing — but the line was cut from the final speech.
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