NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — 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.
However, Adams invited reporters into his Brooklyn apartment on Wednesday afternoon to prove he does, in fact, live there.
WCBS 880’s Steve Burns toured the residence with others and reports Adams is actually skipping the debate for a more personal reason, revealing that the Brooklyn Borough President was once a target of gun violence himself.
Adams says the incident happened right after his son was born.
“Home from the hospital for about two days. Somebody pulled up next to my car, called my name, I looked to the left, and I saw an automatic weapon,” Adams told reporters. “He let off a shot, instead of hitting me, he shot out my back windows.”
Still, that has not stopped his rivals, including Andrew Yang – who called on Adams to release his E-Z Pass records – and Kathryn Garcia, from saying 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 also said Adams is obviously skipping the debate to avoid answering questions about how long he has lived in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Garcia accused Adams of trying to dodge tough questions about potentially embarrassing 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.
And there's also been new development on the endorsement front: A portion of the influential voting bloc of Brooklyn's Satmar sect have withdrawn their support for Yang, accusing him of making false promises.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.
You can hear the debate right here on WCBS Newsradio 880 starting at 7 p.m. Thursday.