At First NYC Mayoral Forum, 5 Democratic Candidates Attack Eric Adams

Mayor Eric Adams did not attend the first candidate forum for the New York City mayoral race, but his record — and the criminal charges he faces — received plenty of attention on Saturday from the Democrats who are running to unseat him.The attacks covered Mr.Adams’s indictment on federal corruption charges last month, but even more criticism was heaped on his budget cuts to free preschool, stalled bus improvements and his response to the city’s affordability crisis.“Eric Adams promised to be the mayor for communities like yours, and long before all of these corruption scandals, he has failed to do so,” Brad Lander, the city comptroller, said at the forum at a church in the Bronx.

“Let’s be clear: You deserve a safer, more affordable, more livable and better-run city.”The event served as the unofficial on-the-ground start to the mayoral race ahead of the Democratic primary next June.Mr.

Lander is among five Democrats who have announced campaigns against Mr.Adams, and the race is expected to intensify after the presidential election early next month.The forum was organized by Kirsten John Foy, a civil-rights leader and Pentecostal minister, who endorsed Mr.

Adams’s progressive challenger, Maya Wiley, in the 2021 primary.Mr.

Foy said that he had invited Mr.Adams and was disappointed that he had not come.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....