With the turmoil surrounding Mayor Eric Adams casting uncertainty onto this year’s mayoral race, some Democratic leaders in New York City have been trying to persuade Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker, to enter the race.
Ms. Adams, the first Black woman to lead the Council, has not made up her mind. But she said in an interview that a decision was close and that she filed paperwork on Wednesday establishing a citywide campaign committee to run for mayor.
Ms. Adams, who is not related to the mayor, said she intended to make a final decision after her State of the City address next Tuesday.
“I didn’t seek this out, but it’s been in the back of my mind for quite a while, particularly in working with this administration,” Ms. Adams said. “But it hasn’t been until this crescendo, this crisis, that it’s like a neon sign flashing in front of my face that somebody has to be here to work to save the soul of this city.”
Ms. Adams, 64, is not well known outside the circle of those who follow city politics, and she would face immediate fund-raising challenges to catch up to Democratic rivals who have been in the race for months. She is also battling history: The four other City Council speakers who have run for mayor were all unsuccessful, and New York City has yet to have a female mayor.
But she is seen by her allies as an antidote to the ethical, legal and management issues facing Mr. Adams, as well as someone who could gather a diverse coalition to compete against the former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo if he enters the race for mayor, as expected.
Letitia James, the state attorney general, is the most prominent Democratic leader who is supportive of her exploring a run for mayor.
Ms. James completed an investigation that found that Mr. Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women and created a hostile work environment while he was governor. Mr. Cuomo resigned after Ms. James’s report but strongly denies the allegations.
Ms. James called key elected officials and powerful unions such as the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union to see if they would be open to supporting Ms. Adams. During a speech at Caucus Weekend in Albany, the crowd began calling for Ms. Adams to run for mayor.
After that moment in Albany, Ms. James said she was motivated to see how the political establishment felt about Ms. Adams’s candidacy. “A lot of elected officials, some unions and some influential individuals said they were open to the speaker running for mayor,” Ms. James said. “She is a woman of faith, a woman who is close to the ground and who has high ethics and standards. She’s a workhorse and a woman without any scandals.”
Ms. Adams rose to become Council speaker three years ago and was seen as a compromise candidate who could work with the mayor while maintaining the Council’s independence.
She was Mr. Adams’s classmate at Bayside High School in Queens, and the mayor has often spoken of how much he had in common with her. Yet she has emerged as one of Mr. Adams’s staunchest adversaries on issues such as public safety, the influx of migrants and deeply unpopular budget cuts to libraries and early childhood education.
Under Ms. Adams, the Council overrode two of the mayor’s vetoes last year, only the second time in two decades the Council has done so.
The Council’s power struggle with the mayor reached new heights when Ms. Adams moved to pass a bill intending to curb the mayor’s authority by making 21 additional commissioner appointments subject to Council approval. In response, Mr. Adams launched a charter review commission that ultimately thwarted the effort.
Her opposition to the mayor grew after the Department of Justice moved earlier this month to dismiss federal corruption charges against him, leading to assertions that Mr. Adams had agreed to a quid pro quo compelling him to participate in President Trump’s planned mass deportation of immigrants.
The reaction was swift. Four top deputy mayors turned in their resignations; Gov. Kathy Hochul, who held meetings last week to decide whether or not to remove Mr. Adams from office, ultimately moved to curtail the mayor’s authority.
The upheaval in the Adams administration provided momentum to the behind-the-scenes push to draft Ms. Adams into the mayor’s race.
And earlier last week, Ms. Adams called on the mayor to resign, for the first time since he was indicted on federal corruption charges in September.
“This administration no longer has the ability to effectively govern with Eric Adams as mayor,” Ms. Adams wrote.
Because of the city’s term-limits law, Ms. Adams, who represents a section of Southeast Queens, is barred from seeking re-election to a third consecutive term on the Council. She has often said her plan was to retire and to spend more time with her family. Now, with a coalition of supporters forming behind her, those plans appear to be on the back burner.
In speaking with several elected officials, clergy and labor leaders, Ms. Adams said she has been told that the current crop of candidates, whom she respects, are not creating a spark for voters.
She said she received encouragement that “I could potentially be that spark that folks need.”
