September 23, 2025 • 7 mins
Joe Borelli speaks with Mendte in the Morning about the NYC Mayoral race and whether Eric Adams will ever prove the rumors true and remove himself from the race.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's go to Joe Burrelli, managing director of Chartwell
Strategy Group and former Minority leader of the New York
City Council, with us every Tuesday at this time. Hey, Joe,
I don't know if you saw the Mayor Adams interview
on WPIX where they were pressing him and pressing him
over and over again whether he's going to drop out
(00:21):
of the race. And he said at that point that
the media has it in for him because he keeps
denying it and they keep reporting that he is. And
he started to get angry and said, no, I'm not
dropping out of the race. If we believe him that,
it sounds like to me, Joe, it's over. Mom, Donnie's
(00:42):
going to be the mayor.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, that would be the most likely scenario if he
does stay in the race. But again, I mean, I
will give him a little bit of the benefit of
the doubt. You know, this is week number five or
six of the rumor of Eric Adams is finally coming
true and it doesn't. So you know, it's something has
to be said of the media for reporting this story
(01:06):
week in and week out and it simply hasn't materialized.
They should probably work on better sources that said, I
just don't think it matters. I think voters, unfortunately, for
better or worse, have moved past Mayor Adams and have
begun looking for other candidates. The majority of those I
have to imagine are going to Andrew Cuomo. I don't
(01:28):
see too many Adams voters going to Curtis Leewa. But
this does help Andrew Cuomo pick up a little bit
more of the market share as he tries to get
I think realistically maybe forty five to forty eight percent
for Cuomo to win.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, and I can't see him getting there. I don't
think he's a strong candidate. He seems to still be
taking off a lot of days when he promised he
wasn't going to do that. Remember that he was going
to walk up and down through all the burrows. I
haven't really seen that happening with him right now. And
I'll tell you what you talked about the media and
how they've been tough on Eric Adams. I wish they
(02:07):
were that tough on Mom Donnie. They seem to be
giving him a free ride.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, Mom, Donnie is going with the strategy and maybe
you know, with my political scientist and campaign management had on.
He's going through the strategy of you know, trying to
do the least harm. He is by far in the lead, right,
there's no there is no question about that. There's no
you know, there's no there's no way to couch it
(02:34):
other than he's got a commanding lead over his two opponents,
three opponents. So he's doing what any candidate in this
situation would do, which would be to make as few
mistakes as possible. And part of the way you do
that is you don't sit for hard interviews or as
few as possible, because unfortunately Mamdani, you know, there are
(02:56):
audio clips of him saying and there's quotes of him,
you know, also saying some crazy stuff, some really silly stuff.
I've seen some videos re emerge from like October twelfth,
let's say, twenty twenty three, when he was protesting in
front of Chuck Schumer's house, you know, right after the
(03:16):
October seventh massacre. I mean, this is this is really
heavy stuff on how agitating and angry that makes so
many New Yorkers. I don't like Chuck Schumer. The thought
would never have occurred to me to go to a
pro hamas rally in front of Chuck Schumer's house right
after October seventh, And I think most New Yorkers have
that same view, and the question is multiplied.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
The question is why isn't the media pressing him on that?
Why isn't the media in his face all the time
pressing him on that that type of event. I just
heard that from you. I don't hear that from the media.
I again, I think they're giving him a free ride.
They're laying out the carpet for him to be mare.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Look, there's no question he is doing the Rose Gardens strategy.
But because we even have a name for it, the
Rose Garden strategy, it means that it's something that's widely
used in politics. Now, I agree with you wholeheartedly that
that doesn't mean the media gets to give him a
free pass and a free ride. You know. I think
(04:17):
some of this will come out in the first mandatory debate,
where all four candidates will be a force to be
on stage. I do wish this was a one on
one scenario with Mamdanni and any one of the other three,
because the three of them will be fighting each other
for second place and won't spend too much time on
(04:37):
Mamdani Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully they'll realize that it's better
to attack Mamdanni and not each other. But that's really
the only opportunity where difficult questions will be asked of him.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, I saw I mentioned a second ago in wpi X.
I saw him with Randy Mastro and they were there
to talk about the casinos and how disappointed they are
that the two in Manhattan were turned down. What do
you see happening with this and and what happened to
the plans for for Times Square? It is odd to me,
(05:10):
it was odd, uh that that. I guess it's a
community board folded.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Look, this is the problem with you know, the the
the government by committee. When you have too many people
with too many hands in the pots, with too much power,
you get indecisiveness and stagnation. Now, I really do think,
you know, if we need quote unquote these casinos, which
we may or may not right, but they certainly will
(05:38):
generate revenue, they certainly will generate tourists if we need them,
there should be one committee trying to figure out the
best play for the entire city. I personally think the
best play would be both the Queen's Casino. Uh, you know,
affiliated with the new city field and the new soccer
stadium or the new housing development. I really like, I
(05:59):
don't I don't know Steve Cohen by any stretch of
the imagination, but I really have to commend his vision
for changing that whole neighborhood. And I think the other
the other one in the Bronx at the Bally's site
where there's a golf course. Now I think that actually
makes a lot of sense because they have the ability
to make a large conference center and attract you know,
global businesses and and and global conferences to come and participate.
(06:24):
But but again that requires not having, you know, a
government by committee where every local HUHA gets to get to,
you know, argue against every project in their neighborhood. The
NIMBYism can't exist when you have to have something that
will be a little problematic for a local neighborhood. But
if we need it, we need it.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I love the word nimbiasm. Thanks for using it. By
the way, I agree with you one hundred percent. And
and all I look at right now are billions of dollars,
lots of jobs, and lots of tourism money, billions of
dollars and taxes alone, and so that you can't say
no to Joe Burrelli, Managing director of Chartwell Strategy Group
(07:04):
and former Minority leader of the New York City Council. Again,
he's with us every day, every Tuesday, I should say
at eight oh five he was just going to himself,
Oh my god, every day. Thanks so much, joe Begulary
Now let's go to Joe Burrelli, managing director of Chartwell
Strategy Group and former Minority leader of the New York
City Council, with us every Tuesday at this time. Hey, Joe,
I don't know if you saw the Mayor Adams interview
on WPIX where they were pressing him and pressing him
over and over again whether he's going to drop out
(00:21):
of the race. And he said at that point that
the media has it in for him because he keeps
denying it and they keep reporting that he is. And
he started to get angry and said, no, I'm not
dropping out of the race. If we believe him that,
it sounds like to me, Joe, it's over. Mom, Donnie's
(00:42):
going to be the mayor.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, that would be the most likely scenario if he
does stay in the race. But again, I mean, I
will give him a little bit of the benefit of
the doubt. You know, this is week number five or
six of the rumor of Eric Adams is finally coming
true and it doesn't. So you know, it's something has
to be said of the media for reporting this story
(01:06):
week in and week out and it simply hasn't materialized.
They should probably work on better sources that said, I
just don't think it matters. I think voters, unfortunately, for
better or worse, have moved past Mayor Adams and have
begun looking for other candidates. The majority of those I
have to imagine are going to Andrew Cuomo. I don't
(01:28):
see too many Adams voters going to Curtis Leewa. But
this does help Andrew Cuomo pick up a little bit
more of the market share as he tries to get
I think realistically maybe forty five to forty eight percent
for Cuomo to win.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, and I can't see him getting there. I don't
think he's a strong candidate. He seems to still be
taking off a lot of days when he promised he
wasn't going to do that. Remember that he was going
to walk up and down through all the burrows. I
haven't really seen that happening with him right now. And
I'll tell you what you talked about the media and
how they've been tough on Eric Adams. I wish they
(02:07):
were that tough on Mom Donnie. They seem to be
giving him a free ride.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, Mom, Donnie is going with the strategy and maybe
you know, with my political scientist and campaign management had on.
He's going through the strategy of you know, trying to
do the least harm. He is by far in the lead, right,
there's no there is no question about that. There's no
you know, there's no there's no way to couch it
(02:34):
other than he's got a commanding lead over his two opponents,
three opponents. So he's doing what any candidate in this
situation would do, which would be to make as few
mistakes as possible. And part of the way you do
that is you don't sit for hard interviews or as
few as possible, because unfortunately Mamdani, you know, there are
(02:56):
audio clips of him saying and there's quotes of him,
you know, also saying some crazy stuff, some really silly stuff.
I've seen some videos re emerge from like October twelfth,
let's say, twenty twenty three, when he was protesting in
front of Chuck Schumer's house, you know, right after the
(03:16):
October seventh massacre. I mean, this is this is really
heavy stuff on how agitating and angry that makes so
many New Yorkers. I don't like Chuck Schumer. The thought
would never have occurred to me to go to a
pro hamas rally in front of Chuck Schumer's house right
after October seventh, And I think most New Yorkers have
that same view, and the question is multiplied.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
The question is why isn't the media pressing him on that?
Why isn't the media in his face all the time
pressing him on that that type of event. I just
heard that from you. I don't hear that from the media.
I again, I think they're giving him a free ride.
They're laying out the carpet for him to be mare.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Look, there's no question he is doing the Rose Gardens strategy.
But because we even have a name for it, the
Rose Garden strategy, it means that it's something that's widely
used in politics. Now, I agree with you wholeheartedly that
that doesn't mean the media gets to give him a
free pass and a free ride. You know. I think
(04:17):
some of this will come out in the first mandatory debate,
where all four candidates will be a force to be
on stage. I do wish this was a one on
one scenario with Mamdanni and any one of the other three,
because the three of them will be fighting each other
for second place and won't spend too much time on
(04:37):
Mamdani Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully they'll realize that it's better
to attack Mamdanni and not each other. But that's really
the only opportunity where difficult questions will be asked of him.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, I saw I mentioned a second ago in wpi X.
I saw him with Randy Mastro and they were there
to talk about the casinos and how disappointed they are
that the two in Manhattan were turned down. What do
you see happening with this and and what happened to
the plans for for Times Square? It is odd to me,
(05:10):
it was odd, uh that that. I guess it's a
community board folded.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Look, this is the problem with you know, the the
the government by committee. When you have too many people
with too many hands in the pots, with too much power,
you get indecisiveness and stagnation. Now, I really do think,
you know, if we need quote unquote these casinos, which
we may or may not right, but they certainly will
(05:38):
generate revenue, they certainly will generate tourists if we need them,
there should be one committee trying to figure out the
best play for the entire city. I personally think the
best play would be both the Queen's Casino. Uh, you know,
affiliated with the new city field and the new soccer
stadium or the new housing development. I really like, I
(05:59):
don't I don't know Steve Cohen by any stretch of
the imagination, but I really have to commend his vision
for changing that whole neighborhood. And I think the other
the other one in the Bronx at the Bally's site
where there's a golf course. Now I think that actually
makes a lot of sense because they have the ability
to make a large conference center and attract you know,
global businesses and and and global conferences to come and participate.
(06:24):
But but again that requires not having, you know, a
government by committee where every local HUHA gets to get to,
you know, argue against every project in their neighborhood. The
NIMBYism can't exist when you have to have something that
will be a little problematic for a local neighborhood. But
if we need it, we need it.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I love the word nimbiasm. Thanks for using it. By
the way, I agree with you one hundred percent. And
and all I look at right now are billions of dollars,
lots of jobs, and lots of tourism money, billions of
dollars and taxes alone, and so that you can't say
no to Joe Burrelli, Managing director of Chartwell Strategy Group
(07:04):
and former Minority leader of the New York City Council. Again,
he's with us every day, every Tuesday, I should say
at eight oh five he was just going to himself,
Oh my god, every day. Thanks so much, joe Begulary
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