NEW YORK — The days of the big personality New York City mayor — characters like Fiorello La Guardia, Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani — may well be over.
Mayor Eric Adams — an eccentric and magnetic figure known to frequent the city’s teeming nightlife circuit — is fighting a five-count federal indictment alleging he took bribes. Famously hard-charging Gov. Andrew Cuomo waits in the wings, but carries his own political baggage, from sexual harassment allegations to his Covid nursing home policy.
And since those two best-known names eyeing the 2025 mayoralty happen to be tainted by scandal, lesser-known candidates are trying to benefit from New Yorkers’ exhaustion with all the drama.
City Comptroller Brad Lander delivered a speech on procurement reform the same day Adams was bombarded with legal questions. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie is focused on expanding child care and after-school opportunities. And in fundraising pleas, Scott Stringer continues to remind supporters of the disorder surrounding Adams.