Brooklyn state Senator Zellnor Myrie launched an exploratory committee Wednesday to challenge Mayor Eric Adams in next year’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Myrie — who represents central Brooklyn neighborhoods including Crown Heights, Park Slope and Prospect Lefferts Gardens — is the second potential candidate to take on the city’s incumbent chief executive in 2025. Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who has been fundraising since January, also launched an exploratory committee to run for mayor.
In a statement, the state senator said he is running because the New Yorkers he speaks to tell him they are “tired of the showmanship.”
“What people want to see are results. New Yorkers want to see their government working relentlessly to make this city affordable, safe, and livable — and that’s why I’m taking the first steps to explore a race for mayor in 2025,” he said.
Moreover, Myrie — an Afro-Latino native of central Brooklyn — said he is running to restore the “promise and opportunity” that has vanished from the city since his parents immigrated here from Costa Rica half a century ago.
“As a state senator, attorney, and housing advocate, I’ve been fighting to make New York affordable and livable for working and middle-class families,” Myrie said. “We need to build a city where families can find good housing in a safe neighborhood, schools to care for and educate our kids, and leadership that is laser-focused on solving our city’s challenges.”
Myrie has served in the state Senate for six years, in the same seat once held by Adams, since he ousted its former occupant Jesse Hamilton in a 2018 Democratic primary. Hamilton — a close Adams ally — was among a group of centrist Albany Democrats who caucused with Republicans and were defeated by reformers such as Myrie that year.
In Albany’s upper chamber, Myrie has championed reforms in elections, criminal justice, housing and other areas — including efforts to implement early voting in the state and passing a law to seal criminal records after a certain period.
Myrie’s potential bid comes as Adams faces mounting controversies that could threaten his re-election campaign.
The incumbent mayor is contenting with record-low poll numbers, a swirl of investigations into his campaign fundraising and the activities of close aides, a sexual assault lawsuit, and backlash over his handling of the city budget.
Adams has not been accused of wrongdoing and fiercely denies the sexual assault claim.
Yet, Hizzoner still holds the inherent advantage of incumbency, along with a sizable campaign war chest and support from critical power players including key unions.
Adams’ campaign could not be reached for comment. But an Adams adviser did pass along a statement from Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn (D-Brooklyn) — one of his closest political allies.
“Mayor Adams has brought down crime on our streets and raised test scores in our schools while creating more jobs than New York has ever had, raising wages for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and lowering the Black unemployment rate–all while handling multiple crises, from COVID to migrants,” Bichotte-Hermelyn said. “And that is why New Yorkers — especially working class New Yorkers — will be behind him for mayor.”
Other potential mayoral candidates who have not yet formally announced a bid for the city’s highest office include Queens state Senator Jessica Ramos, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Read More: If You’ve Been Waiting for the W Train, It Arrives in November
