New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a campaign launch rally at City Hall, Thursday, June. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)2025-09-05T18:16:53Z NEW YORK (AP) New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday that he wont succumb to pressure to end his reelection campaign and insisted he is the only candidate strong enough to beat the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani.Adams declared his intention to stay in the race at the end of a fraught week that began with a trip to Florida, where Trump administration intermediaries sought to assess his willingness to quit the race to take a job with the federal government.Earlier Friday, Adams appeared to leave the door open to a departure, releasing a statement saying he will always listen if called to serve our country but adding he had not yet received any formal offers.Hours later, he summoned reporters to the mayors official residence, Gracie Mansion, to slam that door back shut.I am in this race. And I am the only one who can beat Mamdani, Adams said. How many times have I been told throughout this journey to step aside, to surrender, to give up, to give in, he said. Thats the same thing we tell everyday New Yorkers. Everyday New Yorkers are not giving up, are not giving in, are not surrendering, so their mayor is not going to do that. Adams dismissed Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both fellow Democrats, as two spoiled brats who are not like us, then walked off as a throng of reporters shouted questions.Trump has told reporters he would prefer not to have Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, as New Yorks next mayor, but believed it was inevitable unless two of the three other major candidates in the race dropped out. Besides Cuomo and Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa is also on the ballot. Moments after Adams announcement, Trump was asked about it by reporters at the White House.Hes free to do what he wants, Trump said of Adams, but he added that Adams staying in the contest might help cement a Mamdani victory. Cuomo might have a chance of winning if it was one-on-one, Trump said. If you have more than one candidate running against (Mamdani), it cant be won. During a trip to Florida this week, Adams met with Steve Witkoff, a former real estate developer in New York who is now one of Trumps main diplomatic envoys in Washington, said Adams campaign spokesperson, Todd Shapiro. It was unclear what specifically was discussed.Adams skipped the Democratic primary, saying he was sidelined from campaigning after he was indicted last year on bribery charges. Trumps Justice Department then dropped the criminal case, saying it was distracting Adams from helping with the presidents immigration crackdown.In an interview, former Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson said he spoke with the mayor Wednesday morning. Adams told him he wanted to remain in the race but had received offers, Paterson said.He said, Listen, they say I have some offers. I have a lot of offers. Then he started laughing. And he was saying that, you know, he really doesnt want to leave and hes trying to work that out so he doesnt have to, said Paterson, who has endorsed Adams for reelection. He didnt get specific about it, but I got that in his heart of hearts, he really wants to stay. But I also got that, even though he didnt say it, that the odds cant be very good. Mamdani won the Democratic nomination after soundly defeating Cuomo in the primary. He could be a heavy favorite in the general election if Cuomo and Adams split the centrist vote and most Republicans vote for Sliwa.Through the collusion and corruption of the past few months, our relentless focus on the affordability crisis created by Andrew Cuomo and inflamed by Eric Adams has not wavered, Mamdani said in a statement Friday. November, were going to deliver a city working New Yorkers can afford and turn the page on the broken, billionaire-backed politics of the past. ___Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York. AP writers Seung Min Kim and Michelle L. Price contributed from Washington.