Adams picks up mayoral reelection endorsement from dozens of religious leaders in New York City
NEW YORK (WABC) -- On Tuesday, nearly 100 faith leaders from across the five boroughs gathered at City Hall to endorse Mayor Eric Adams for reelection.
They include priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, and sheikhs.
This is major boost for Adams who is running as an independent in the November election.
The election is less than three months away.
One by one, the religious leaders spoke about why they thought Adams should be reelected as mayor.
Adams is looking to build a broad base outside traditional party lines.
He has long cultivated his relationships with faith leaders, some of whom stood at his side while he battled criminal charges.
Tuesday, he spoke about how his faith has helped him survive, and led him to enact certain policies.
"The city is a better place because of this administration and what we accomplished and the reason we did it." Adams said. "Yes you can have the skill, yes you can have the people, yes you can have the agencies. But in the administrations with the absence of God, they will never reach their full compassionate commitment that we have," Adams said.
Meanwhile, one of his opponents, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is also running as an independent, appeared on Bloomberg Radio Tuesday morning.
He spoke about his focus on public safety and his plan to boost the NYPD's ranks.
"Day one, raise the salary. It will have a practical effect, you'll be more competitive, but it will also say to police, 'I value you, I believe in you.' And the second factor is, 'I will have your back,'" Cuomo said.
Cuomo and Adams, a former police officer, are more aligned on crime policies than the frontrunner, Democrat Zohran Mamdani.
He had at one time called for defunding the police and has more recently pledged to continue funding the NYPD, but wants to change their approach to policing.
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