Mayor Eric Adams stands with law enforcement and sanitation union leaders during a rally on the steps of City Hall, Thursday.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Undeterred by a recent wave of corruption lawsuits against Mayor Eric Adams and top NYPD officials, a coalition of law enforcement unions rallied on the steps of City Hall on Thursday to endorse Adams for a second term, calling him a proven leader on crime and public safety.
Chanting “four more years,” more than a dozen unions, including the Detectives’ Endowment Association, Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association, and sanitation unions, braved the blistering midday heat to formally back the mayor’s reelection campaign.
Missing from the show of support was the Police Benevolent Association, the city’s largest police union representing roughly 24,000 officers. The PBA has not endorsed a candidate in the race and said it is still weighing its options.
“We have our own separate endorsement process, and we will go through that process,” a PBA spokesperson said in a statement. The union is currently in a legal battle with the NYPD over the city’s attempt to fire 31 officers it says were wrongly hired.
Still, those present on Thursday were united in their support for Adams, even as he faces an uphill reelection battle and a growing list of legal challenges.
On Wednesday, former Police Commissioner Tom Donlon filed a federal lawsuit accusing the mayor and senior NYPD leadership of running the department like a racketeering enterprise. The complaint alleges corruption, obstruction of justice, and retaliation against whistleblowers.
It followed four lawsuits filed last week by former NYPD chiefs who claimed they were pushed out after raising concerns about misconduct and political interference tied to Adams’ allies. Adams has dismissed the lawsuits, calling Donlon and the former chiefs “disgruntled former employees.”
‘They are all politics’
Louis Turco, president of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, downplayed the allegations, telling amNewYork after the rally that “they are all politics.”
“My rank and file don’t get involved in that. My rank and file are on the street right now. We look at the crime numbers, we look at the support from the mayor. Look at the contracts. Has he been fair with us? It’s what he does for our members out there,” Turco said.
Meanwhile, Alexander Sadik, president of traffic enforcement officers with CWA Local 1182, said Adams gave his union the time and respect others hadn’t. He recalled sending an email to City Hall late one night and receiving a personal call from Adams the next morning.
“Nobody wanted to hear our problem. But he did,” Sadik said during the rally. “Today I’m saying thank you … because you are a man of your word.”
Afterward, when asked about the lawsuits, Sadik told amNewYork he didn’t have “all the details” and couldn’t speak to them, but he said he preferred a mayor with law enforcement experience.
Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, focused his remarks on Adams’ support for correction officers and his contrast with former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“We’ve come way too far after the progress made over the past four years to go backwards,” Boscio said, likening Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani to de Blasio. “Mayor Adams has been a profile in courage, standing up for the rights of our members.”
‘You can’t run from public safety’
Adams, speaking last, credited police, correction, and sanitation workers with helping drive down crime and restore stability.
“You can’t run from public safety, it is real,” he said. “The number one obligation of the mayor is to keep the people of the city safe.”
He pointed to falling crime rates and increased subway ridership under his administration and touted labor agreements settled during his term. “Ninety-eight percent of our contracts were settled,” Adams said.
Shootings in the first six months of 2025 plummeted to the lowest in recorded history. This year, January through June, the city recorded 397 shooting victims, down 24% from the same period last year, and 337 shooting incidents, a 23% decline year over year.
“The answer to dealing with law enforcement is not opening the doors of 7,400 violent criminals and letting them out of Rikers Island,” he said. “We have come too far to go backwards.”
Adams closed his remarks with a message to the unions and voters alike: “I want them to know, just as they have had the city’s back. I got their back. We are going to continue to move this city forward in an unprecedented fashion.”
→ Continue reading at amNY
