by Charles Gasparino
Prominent New York business leaders who supported Andrew Cuomo are hoping he will drop out of the race completely after his humiliating loss in the Democratic mayoral primary, The Post has learned.
As the former governor has emergency meetings about his political future, at least one prominent business executive and Cuomo supporter reached out to the former governor Wednesday morning and gently nudged him to reconsider staying in the race for the good of the city, The Post has learned.
Other supporters from the city’s business community plan to do so imminently, they say.
“He got destroyed — our best shot is Adams,” said one prominent NYC business leader. “He lost Harlem. How did that happen?
“He had his shot,” said another Cuomo business supporter. “It is over.”
After his humiliating loss to the socialist upstart Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary, Cuomo will be watching polling data to decide if he should run as an independent in the general election for New York City mayor, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Cuomo’s last hope to potentially resurrect his political career and remain in the race, these people say, is if polls show current Mayor Eric Adams, also running as an independent, is “unelectable,” and the city’s business leaders demand that Adams withdraw from the race to prevent a Mamdani victory.
Nevertheless, even Cuomo himself told one person who spoke to him after his defeat Tuesday night that his fate depends on “whatever the polls say” and that dropping out is a real possibility.
Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf is predicting Cuomo will eventually concede rather than go down in history as the man who helped an antisemitic leftist get elected to run Gotham. If Cuomo remains in the race, he will further split the moderate vote between Adams and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa.
“What choice does he have?” Sheinkopf told The Post.
Cuomo, at least for now, is playing his cards close to the vest. On Wednesday morning, he was texting business community supporters telling them that he believes Adams is “un-electable” to rally support, The Post has learned.
The former governor is telling people that Adams, who had to face criminal bribery charges from the Trump DOJ before embracing the president’s immigration deportation plans, could falter in the face of additional scrutiny over his ethical conduct. It would leave an opening for him to run and possibly defeat the prospect of a Mamdani mayoralty in a three-way race.
Cuomo is said to be banking on business community support to force Adams out; many business leaders say they will leave the Big Apple if Mamdani is elected given his economic proposals and defund-the-police positions. Mamdani is also a fierce critic of Israel and had once vowed to globalize the intifada.
But business community support is unlikely in the face of the complete drubbing he took Tuesday night.
One thing is certain: GOP nominee and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa isn’t dropping out.
“The Gambinos told me to shut my mouth in 1992 or else,” he said, referring to a failed assassination attempt that year, adding that “five hollow-point bullets later, I took a licking and came back ticking. The only way I drop out is if I’m in a pine casket 6 feet under.”
