Andrew Cuomo launches comeback bid for New York City mayor

NEW YORK — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is joining the crowded race to unseat New York City Mayor Eric Adams — catapulting himself into a high-stakes return to public life following a scandal-plagued downfall.

The moderate Democrat, a household name in New York politics for decades, made the announcement in a video Saturday morning, with just over 16 weeks until the primary, describing a city in deep crisis.

“The first step toward solving a problem is having the strength, having the courage, to recognize it and we know that today our New York City is in trouble,” Cuomo said during his 17-minute video. “The city just feels threatening, out of control and in crisis. These conditions exist not as an act of God, but rather as an act of our political leaders — or more precisely, the lack of intelligent action by many of our political leaders.”

Moments earlier before his video launched Saturday afternoon, he told a POLITICO reporter he would focus on “the future of the City of New York and how do we get out of this crisis” as he entered a candidate screening by influential labor union 32BJ SEIU — which represents building service workers.