Mayor Adams hit back at Gov. Hochul for moving to curtail his powers — suggesting it was all a show to satisfy his critics.
“I didn’t believe there is any reason for guardrails,” he told The Post in an interview Friday.
“I don’t believe I did anything wrong.”
Hizzoner said he disagreed with Hochul’s proposal to increase oversight of City Hall — which she announced Thursday after weighing whether to remove the besieged mayor.
“We have a right to agree to disagree,” he said.
Adams also finally faced questions from The Post about the Justice Department’s controversial move to toss his corruption case — and how it’ll impact his seemingly weakening prospects for re-election in the upcoming mayoral race.
Adams said he isn’t sweating ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo potentially entering the crowded Democratic primary field, jauntily proclaiming, “The more the merrier.”
He also revealed he met with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley — though he maintained it was simply a “pleasant conversation” about moving the city forward and had nothing to do with suggestions he might switch sides.
“I’m running as a Democrat,” he said.
“There was no commitment to run on any line.”
But Adams did note much of his message of public safety, business-friendly policies and going after violent migrants crosses party lines.
He then sidestepped a question about whether he’ll consider running on a GOP party line if he loses the June primary.
“I don’t even have to think about that because I’m going to win,” he said.
The mayor’s already shaky re-election bid has been further imperiled by the bid by President Trump’s DOJ to toss his case, which has widely been seen as putting Adams under the president’s thumb.
It prompted a full-blown leadership crisis in City Hall, calls for Hochul to remove him from office and a campaign to draft his no-relation frenemy City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as an 11-hour candidate in the mayoral race.
Hochul ultimately decided not to remove Adams, but instead pointedly proposed guardrails to make sure he’s not compromised by Trump.
Adams said he didn’t know whether Hochul responded to Democratic pressure, even as he made the case the governor put on a show.
“Optics should not be how we govern,” he said.
“Just because people who have been criticizing the administration from the beginning, because they are yelling loud. We should never succumb to that.”
The mayor’s troubles come on top of Cuomo waiting in the wings, officially undeclared in the mayor’s race but the frontrunner nonetheless, according to poll after poll.
Cuomo’s window to enter the mayoral race in time for the primary is closing — but sources suggest he has plenty of room to maneuver.
The petitioning process — which will tell New Yorkers who’s considering a run, even if they haven’t officially announced their candidacy — begins Feb. 25.
Cuomo has until April 3 to collect 3,750 valid petition signatures to make it on the primary ballot.
One source suggested that Cuomo could feasibly collect those signatures within a few days, and thus push back his deadline to enter the race.
They noted former Gov. Eliot Spitzer collected signatures in three days before his failed bid for city comptroller.
But another political strategist pushed back on that notion, noting that Cuomo lacks some of the groundwork necessary to prepare armies of petitioners who’ll need to collect signatures.
“You need a good solid week-plus of recruiting,” the source said.
“They don’t keep 500 people sitting around in a bullpen.”
The strategist said they expect Cuomo likely won’t wait long to announce.
“I would look for the announcement within a week,” the source said.
The end of petitioning will sort out what candidates make the final ballot for the June 24 primary.
Faced with the prospect of a Cuomo mayoralty, many New York Democrats have sought to draft the council speaker as late entrant into the race.
Adrienne Adams, appears to have the backing of powerful state Attorney General — and Cuomo foe — Letitia James.
James reportedly chanted “Run, Adrienne, run” during a Democratic political conference in Albany in which the Council speaker received an award.
Adrienne Adams has been calling union leaders to gauge their support if she runs for mayor, sources told The Post.
A labor insider said Adams is being encouraged to run because others who despise Cuomo, particularly James, are afraid to take on the still-formidable former governor.
Unions will be hesitant to go against Cuomo, given his strength in the polls and the favors of being on his good side — and the many disadvantages to being his enemy, the insider said.
“It’s not fair to Adrienne,” the source said.
“She’ll be collateral damage.”
The NYC District Council of Carpenters is prepared to endorse Cuomo if and when he decided to jump into the race, several sources said.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi declined to comment, but did not deny the looming endorsement.
It would be a major early blow to Adams, who received the carpenters endorsement in his 2021 bid, one of the few building and construction trades unions to go his way.
“They’ve always been supportive of his campaigns,” a source familiar with Cuomo’s labor relationships told The Post.
Sources also said that Cuomo is expected to tap Carpenters Political Director Kevin Elkins for a high level role in the campaign, including possibly as campaign manager.
“There is no campaign. I have not been offered any role. And it would be a mistake to say that,” Elkins told The Post.
One prominent long-time Adams ally — Frank Carone — has been regularly chatting in recent months with Cuomo and the ex-gov’s top adviser, Melissa DeRosa, Politico reported.
Adams brushed off the report.
“I can assure you that as long as I’m in the race Frankie will be lined up with me,” he said.
The mayor argued it would be a “big mistake” to predict what will happen in the next three months.
“I’m not running against anyone,” he said. “I’m running against myself.”
— Additional reporting by Hannah Fierick
