NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Thursday's Democratic mayoral debate in New York City will not feature one of the top candidates.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams plans to skip the event, saying he will instead attend a vigil for 10-year-old Justin Wallace, who was killed in a Queens shooting over the weekend.
"I enjoy debating the people on the stage, I wanted to, but the people of Rockaway, the people of this city, violence is suffocating our city," Adams said.
Adams has been the frontrunner in polls and political strategists say with questions swirling about his residency, skipping the debate may be a good strategy.
Adams owns an apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey with his partner, but lists his address as a brownstone he also owns in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
His rivals, including Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia, believe Adams is running scared.
"I am completely in the dark as to why a major candidate would not show up for a debate on CBS, two days before early voting starts," Yang said.
An adviser to Yang says Adams is obviously skipping the debate to avoid answering questions about how long he has lived in New Jersey.
Garcia is also accusing Adams of trying to dodge tough questions about potentially embarassing disclosures.
"Maybe he thought it was going to be a little hot in there and didn't want to actually be put to the test, which we all have got to be put to to make sure that we're the right person for the job," the former sanitation commissioner told CBS2, which is hosting Thursday's debate.
Garcia hit a fundraising milestone on Tuesday, maxing out public matching funds.
Meanwhile, there's a new development on the endorsement front. A portion of the influential voting bloc of Brooklyn's Satmar sect have withdrawn their support for Yang, accusing him of making false promises. They are now endorsing Adams, calling him a reliable friend who has stood with community over the years.