NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams suggested Tuesday that Orthodox Jewish support flocking to mayoral front-runner Andrew Cuomo is lighter than it seems.
He may have a point.
Cuomo has been racking up endorsements from influential leaders in a community long considered a potent electoral force as he leads the Democratic mayoral primary field. On Tuesday, he scored the top ranking from a major Hasidic sect in Brooklyn.
But one of the former governor’s most prominent backers suggested days earlier his brethren would be supporting Adams in the general election — and would do so with a similar fervor to 2024, when they came out en masse for President Donald Trump.
“In November you’ll see the same thing with God’s help,” Rabbi Moishe Indig, a top leader in Brooklyn’s Satmar community, said during an event focused on combating antisemitism. “We will come out to show our great support for our great mayor and brother, Eric Adams.”
Indig was speaking at an event headlined by Adams and conservative television personality Dr. Phil on Sunday, the day before he publicly endorsed Cuomo. In addition to pledging fealty to the incumbent in the November general election, the Brooklyn religious and political fixture estimated 75,000 people in his community voted in the presidential race, mostly breaking for Trump.
That number explains the nascent battle between Cuomo and Adams, who are both preparing for a potential general election showdown after Adams dropped out of the primary.
“We are talking about relationships of over 30 years — 30 years,” Adams, a Brooklyn borough president and state senator before becoming mayor, said of his ties to the borough’s Orthodox communities during an unrelated press conference.
As he spoke, he again excoriated Cuomo and accused him of overstating his support in Jewish and Black communities, both central to Adams’ winning 2021 coalition. “So let the primary run its course,” he said. “We are going to see what’s going to happen in the general.”
Adams, a registered Democrat, opted out of the Democratic primary in April, recognizing he was too damaged by a federal indictment, and his related choice to cozy up to President Donald Trump, who pushed for a judge to drop the charges.
As The New York Times reported Tuesday, Adams’ team has been working behind the scenes to dissuade rabbis from endorsing Cuomo as the mayor publicly pursues policies sought by the community. A mayoral aide, for instance, was successful in persuading 25 Hasidic groups and institutions to endorse City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams over Cuomo in the primary, according to the Times. And another prominent Jewish leader in Brooklyn who endorsed Cuomo later clarified in a social media post that his backing was only for the primary and that he has a close relationship with the mayor.
But despite animus between many religious communities and Cuomo over his Covid-era prohibitions on large gatherings, the front-runner has already landed crucial backing from some of the most important Jewish leaders in Brooklyn and Queens.
And even Indig walked back his stated support for Eric Adams when asked by POLITICO, noting he hasn’t made a general election endorsement yet.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in November,” he added.
With that in mind, Cuomo’s team dismissed the mayor’s assertions.
“Governor Cuomo’s relationship with the Jewish community is deep, strong and stretches back decades and we’re proud to have assembled one of the largest Orthodox coalitions in history in support of our campaign to get New York City back on the right track,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement. “We’re not surprised the mayor is trying to play games behind the scenes.”
Jeff Colin contributed to this report.