The Asian American community in New York City rallied behind Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, criticizing his Socialist opponent, Zoran Mamdani, for being too extreme.
At Confucius Plaza in Chinatown, over 100 members of the Asian American community, including local citizens and business leaders, gathered to back the incumbent mayor as he prepares for his re-election campaign in November.
“I support Democrats. I don’t support Socialists,” declared James Yu, a leader within the local Democratic party, as he took aim at Mamdani, who is running under the mayoral banner.
Yu asserted, “He’s running in the wrong place.” He further suggested, “He should run for mayor in Havana, Cuba, or Nicaragua, even Caracas, Venezuela—not here in New York.”
During his speech, Adams also made indirect references to Mamdani while boasting about his public safety record, having recently secured backing from a significant police union.
“I want to help the police, but others want criminals roaming our streets,” Adams stated. “We need to keep criminals imprisoned.”
This remark seemed to address a resurfaced 2020 comment from Mamdani, who suggested questioning the purpose of prisons and advised against police intervention in domestic violence situations.
Mamdani has proposed a $1 billion Community Safety Agency to be part of his mayoral platform, which would assume some duties from the NYPD, particularly those involving homeless or troubled individuals during 911 calls.
As Adams prepares for the November general election, he will not only face Mamdani but also Republican Curtis Sliwa, former governor Andrew Cuomo, and independent attorney Jim Walden.
Despite having raised $1.5 million recently, Adams finds himself polling as a fourth choice, barely reaching double digits.
Though he has gained new endorsements, he lost one from Queens Democrat James Gennaro on Friday.
Gennaro had initially backed Adams but later retracted his support in a late-night Facebook update, expressing confusion over the lack of communication from the Adams campaign.
In addressing Gennaro’s withdrawal, Adams had earlier mentioned his ongoing efforts to reach out to council members.
