Adams, Cuomo skip mayoral candidates forum

DC 37 hosts ahead of screening committee's endorsement

At times, the focus at the District Council 37 mayoral forum on Wednesday was more on the candidates not in the room than the six answering questions at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. Mayor Eric Adams had been expected to attend what would have been his first time at a mayoral forum ahead of June’s primary, but he backed out, just hours before it began.

Candidates addressed union members and retirees for two hours in what some who attended described as a "high energy" affair. Members made their feelings known early when the evening’s host, DC 37 executive director Henry Garrido, read out a statement from Adams saying that he pulled out of the event due to “advice of legal counsel,” prompting dozens of attendees to jeer and boo.