New Yorkers Want Mayor Adams Out – and Bloomberg Is Their Preferred Replacement

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A majority of New York City residents say Mayor Eric Adams should resign as he faces federal corruption charges they see as credible, according to a new Morning Consult survey.

Our Oct. 4-8 survey, conducted among 1,510 adults in The Big Apple, found 57% say Adams should resign compared with 20% who say he should not.

Roughly 3 in 5 Democrats and Republicans say Adams should depart the city’s top office, with Black residents (52%) among the least likely to support his exit.

Our survey was conducted roughly a week after Adams’ Sept. 26 indictment on five federal charges related to bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals. Roughly 3 in 5 New Yorkers think he’s guilty on at least some of the charges, including 32% who think he’s guilty on all counts.

Adams says he will not resign, but if he did, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would take over as acting mayor in advance of a special election to replace him until the 2026 mayoral election. Many of the city’s Democrats say Williams should also run in that special election, but it’s former Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the largest chunk of New Yorkers want to see vie for the keys to Gracie Mansion.

Among all New York City adults, 48% said Bloomberg should run in any special election to serve as mayor until January 2026 when the next mayor would take office, followed by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at 42%. However, the city’s Democratic residents are most likely to say state Attorney General Letitia James (54%) should run to replace Adams.

The appetite for a Bloomberg return is reflected in New Yorkers’ opinion of Bloomberg compared with other New York elected officials of the past and present.

A majority of New York City residents (56%) hold favorable views of Bloomberg, making him more popular than the likes of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (51%), New York Governor Kathy Hochul (46%) or James (45%). Among Democrats in the city, Bloomberg’s standing is in line with Hochul’s while Schumer and James are the most popular. 

Adams, on the other hand, is viewed unfavorably by 3 in 5 city residents, including 57% of Democrats.

How New Yorkers feel about their city

More New York City residents than not see their city as on the wrong track (56%), express a high level of concerns about the influx of migrants (51%) and feel safe from crime (46%). More troubling for Adams is that the bulk of New Yorkers think he’s made his city worse for its people. 

Over half of New York City adults (55%) said the incumbent has made New York City a worse place to live, nearly matching the share who said Bloomberg made it a better place to live before he left office, nearly 10 years ago.

Among New York residents, the list of issues topping voters' concerns —the cost of living, housing affordability and crime — is similar to those weighing on the national electorate. And on many of these matters, the bulk of New Yorkers think things are getting worse.

For example, 2 in 3 New York City residents (67%) see crime as a big problem, and 56% think things are getting worse. It’s a similar story on homelessness (67% and 56%) and immigration (57% and 59%). Even the city’s rat problem, which Adams has focused on, is seen as worsening by nearly half (48%) of city residents, similar to the shares who say the same of subway conditions or traffic. 

The bottom line

Even if Adams is able to beat the charges, as he’s pledged to do, our survey makes clear that he has already been convicted in the court of public opinion, with just 7% of New Yorkers believing he is innocent and 19% saying they’d vote for him if he ran for mayor again.

Setting Adams’ legal troubles aside, our survey also makes clear that New Yorkers are pining for the Bloomberg era, a consensus of which any aspiring future leader of the city would be wise to take note.