New York City Mayor Eric Adams has ended his bid for a second term, dropping out just weeks ahead of Election Day.

Adams, who faced a federal bribery indictment and stunningly low approval ratings, announced his decision in an almost nine-minute video posted on X. The video showed him walking downstairs to Frank Sinatra's "My Way" while holding up a large photo of his late mother, a gesture he first made when voting for himself four years ago. 

"Despite all we've achieved, I cannot continue my reelection campaign," he said in the video. It was also confirmed that he would not endorse another candidate and will finish his term, which ends on January 1, 2026. “I will continue to fight for this city.” 

Adams had struggled to raise money and was trailing far behind frontrunner Democrat Zohran Mamdani and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani holds a sizeable lead ahead of the November 4 election, while recent polls showed Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in single digits.

The decision reshapes the mayoral race into a contest largely between Mamdani and Cuomo. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has worried some in the city’s business community and parts of the Democratic Party. 

“On November 4th, we are going to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas and deliver a government every New Yorker can be proud of,” Mamdani has previously shared in a statement.  

Since Adams’ announcement, the federal government has threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani is fairly elected. 

Cuomo urged voters to reject "extremist forces." He wrote on X, "We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them."