Eric Adams' mayoral reelection bid endorsed by 13 labor unions, most law enforcement personnel

A coalition of 13 labor unions, mostly law enforcement employees, on Thursday endorsed Eric Adams’ mayoral reelection bid, calling him the best candidate to control crime and prevent what one union leader called "de Blasio 2.0."

Those unions represent cops, jail guards, traffic agents, probation officers and sanitation workers, although New York City's biggest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, hasn't endorsed Adams — or any mayoral candidate.

Adams, a former police captain who once led the NYPD-critical 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, has focused his reelection campaign to include crime reduction and disorder control. At an endorsement rally outside City Hall Thursday, union leaders and Adams himself highlighted his successes in reducing most categories of crime and agreeing to labor deals the unions like.

"Just as they have had the city’s back, I got their back," Adams said, adding: "We have come too far to go back."

Earlier in the week, one of Adams' former police commissioners sued, accusing him of operating the NYPD as a criminal enterprise.

The coalition’s unions endorsing Adams are the Detectives’ Endowment Association; the Sergeants Benevolent Association; the Lieutenants Benevolent Association; the Captains Endowment Association; the NYNYC Detective Investigators' Association; the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association; the Correction Captains' Association; the Sanitation Officers Association; the Uniformed Sanitation Chiefs Association; the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association Local 831; the United Probation Officers Association; the Assistant Deputy Wardens/Deputy Wardens Association; and CWA Local 1182, which represents traffic enforcers, according to Adams spokesman Todd Shapiro.

In the aftermath of last month's Democratic primary — which Zohran Mamdani stunned the political establishment in winning — a succession of unions have endorsed Mamdani, including several that had previously endorsed the favored-to-win Andrew Cuomo. Adams withdrew from the Democratic primary after allegations over his alleged fundraising improprieties and is running as an independent. 

Mamdani has promised to keep the NYPD's current headcount; Adams says he'll hire 4,000 more officers.

Mamdani and his leftist platform have been critical of certain policing policies. 

Benny Boscio, the correction union president, warned of the possibility of Mamdani winning,   saying it would be a return to the left-leaning policies of Adams’ predecessor Bill de Blasio.

"We can’t afford to have de Blasio 2.0 back in City Hall," he said.

De Blasio didn't return a text message seeking comment.

The lieutenants union president, Lou Turco, said Adams had a record of reducing crime and supporting the police.

"There isn’t a time that he doesn’t stand in front of the press and thank the men and women of the NYPD. He backs the NYPD," Turco said.

Also present at the rally: representatives of police unions from Suffolk and Nassau.

Louis Civello, president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, said the county had a "symbiotic" relation with the city. With hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders visiting the city daily, he said, his union has interest in keeping the city safe and its police department well-funded.

"We think Mayor Adams is the right person for the job. We think he’s made great strides in improving the city. We think it’s a safer place because of the work he’s done so far, and we should give him the opportunity to continue this work," Civello said.

 Alexander Sadik, president of the traffic agent union, said Adams made his members feel heard, which he said they didn’t under previous mayors.

"New York City," Sadik said, "will never, ever run on empty promises." 

Although none of the remarks by the union endorsers or the mayor mentioned Mamdani by name, several of the speakers indirectly criticized his promises, which include free public buses, free child care and a rent freeze on regulated apartments, as well as a tax hike on the rich and big corporations.

"My father taught me when I was young: Nothing in life is free. Everything comes with a cost," Turco said.

Before the rally, orange cones were deployed on the City Hall grounds, in an area typically used as parkland or parking for city-owned vehicles. On Thursday, the cones held spaces for vintage NYPD police cars, which a detective union delegate was washing.