NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) — Billionaire investor Bill Ackman called on Andrew Cuomo to step aside from the New York City mayoral race and allow incumbent Eric Adams to take on democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in November.
Ackman posted on X that he met with both the mayor and former governor this week and determined Adams “is ready to go to battle” with the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman, while Cuomo “is not up for the fight.”
“New York City residents’ top concerns are public safety, affordability, quality of life and the local economy,” said Ackman, who donated to Cuomo’s campaign. “In all of these areas, Mayor Adams has had impressive accomplishments.”
Ackman, a former Democrat who now backs President Donald Trump, said Adams is “blazing with enormous energy and clarity” to take on Mamdani, while Cuomo offered “subdued energy.”
The Pershing Square Capital Management founder had just days ago suggested trying to find another viable candidate to take on Mamdani, but in his latest message said its not possible to add a new name to the ballot, while a write-in candidate would have a “low probability of success.”
Republican Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa criticized Ackman’s endorsement of Adams, responding to his post on X to say the Mayor “has NO path to victory,” and that Ackman is “pouring money into the same rotten machine that handed Mamdani a win.”
Ackman’s pivot to Adams comes as other Cuomo donors begin to raise money for Adams’ renewed bid for mayor following Cuomo’s decisive loss in the Democratic primary.
SL Green Realty Corp. Chairman Marc Holliday, who donated $100,000 to Cuomo’s PAC, will host an event for the mayor next week, according to people familiar with the matter. Politico was first to report the event.
“Under Mayor Adams’ administration, the city has thrived and is far better off than it was three and a half years ago,” Holliday said in a statement. “His leadership is going to be more important than ever in the next four years.”
Holliday added that he’s a longtime supporter of Adams and would have backed the mayor in the primary had he been included. Adams is planning to run in November as an independent.
Developer Jared Epstein, who donated to Cuomo, real estate executive Ken Fishel and Red Apple Group founder John Catsimatidis are planning an event this weekend for the mayor, according to Fishel. More than 100 donors from Wall Street and the real estate industry have reached out for an invitation, said Fishel, who is hosting the event at his Bridgehampton home.
“It’s the most important election in many decades,” Fishel said by phone.
The fee for entry is $1,000, which goes straight to Adams’ campaign, according to Epstein. He said he was always planning to support both Cuomo and Adams, whom he said makes “a great leader.”
Frank Carone, chair of Adams’ reelection campaign, said support for Adams after the primary is “more than I’ve ever experienced” and that it was “exciting and humbling at the same time.”
Cuomo, who was mounting a political revival four years after resigning from the governorship, is weighing his next move after democratic socialist Mamdani beat him in the Democratic primary by a staggering 12-point margin.
Cuomo secured a spot on a third-party line for the general election in November. Donors opposed to Mamdani, who wants to fund his agenda by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy, have advised the former governor to step back from the race so as not to be a spoiler for Adams.
“Everyone is entitled to their own political opinion,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi. “We understand President Trump supports Eric Adams, and do not believe socialism is the answer. Most New Yorkers are not Trumpers, and most New Yorkers are not socialists — the majority lies in the middle.”
That’s not the view of Joe Sitt, chairman and CEO of real estate firm Thor Equities,
“Eric is the answer,” Sitt said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s going to be a struggle but if he learns from Cuomo’s carpet bomb campaign and instead go hand-to-hand tactics, in the neighborhoods, touch the people, touch the communities, he’s got a chance to reverse his weak position currently.”
Adams abandoned the Democratic primary after his popularity collapsed amid a bribery scandal. Adams, a former police captain, became the first sitting mayor in the city’s modern history to be indicted on federal charges. The Trump administration ordered those charges dismissed this year, raising concerns over Adams’ relationship to the White House.
His official campaign account currently has $3 million in cash on hand.
The mayor’s 2021 campaign was supported by a Super PAC called Strong Leadership NYC, which raised almost $7 million to support his candidacy. Two people familiar with the matter said it is likely a Super PAC would end up supporting Adams’ reelection effort this year too.
Cuomo, meanwhile, had raised more than $30 million through his campaign and super PAC. Donors included Ackman and Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
“We have to make sure we’re defending New York City, and this is probably the biggest threat the city has had since the 1970s,” said Epstein, president of Aurora Capital. “In a way we’re in a more precarious position than during Covid or the financial crisis.”
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