A Brooklyn state senator who has become an increasingly vocal critic of New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Wednesday he’s setting up an exploratory committee to consider challenging Adams in next year’s Democratic primary.
Zellnor Myrie becomes the second Democrat to formally signal plans to take on the incumbent mayor — whose approval ratings hit a record low last year as he grapples with the ongoing migrant crisis and four law enforcement investigations into his 2021 mayoral campaign’s fundraising — after former city Comptroller Scott Stringer opened an exploratory committee in January.
Myrie represents the same district Adams held in the state Senate until 2013, including parts of Central Brooklyn such as Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Park Slope.
In an interview with Gothamist, Myrie said he believed New Yorkers were unhappy with Adams’ budget cuts to schools, parks and libraries. “I think we have seen a bungling of that,” he said.
Myrie, 37, has previously described himself as an “on-the-street progressive” who is connected with his constituents’ concerns. But on Wednesday, he downplayed the importance of political labels in the upcoming mayoral race.
“What do everyday New Yorkers care about? They care about clean streets, safe subways and good schools and opportunities,” he said. “It’s not a conservative, progressive or moderate thing. It’s a ‘who can deliver and make the city affordable and livable’ thing.”
Myrie’s announcement, first reported by the New York Times, means he can now begin fundraising and meeting with potential surrogates to determine whether he can viably take on Adams, who already has a $2.2 million campaign war chest, according to city Campaign Finance Board filings.
Meanwhile, Stringer has kept a relatively low public profile since announcing his exploratory committee, though his supporters have been holding fundraisers for him. A Democrat from the Upper West Side, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2021 amid sexual assault allegations lodged by one of his former campaign interns, Jean Kim, whom he is now suing for defamation.
Ahead of Myrie’s decision to form an exploratory committee, the state senator has been holding events around the city to potentially raise his profile with voters outside of his district. In March, he addressed a crowded congregation at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, one of the most influential Black Baptist churches in the country that sits several miles outside his Brooklyn district.
In that speech, Myrie warned of a collective need to “protect our democracy” — an issue he’s spoken about before as chair of state Senate Elections Committee and a sponsor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, which seeks to prevent voter suppression and dilution based on race and language preference.
More recently, Myrie has advocated for universal after-school programming in the state budget and held a listening tour across New York City to talk with providers and parents. That includes an event late last month with state Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, who represents Far Rockaway in Queens.
Anderson, who was elected in 2020 as the youngest ever Black member of the state Legislature, said the event was well attended by after-school providers and community leaders eager to discuss ways to ensure young people can access programming. While acknowledging it’s still early days in the mayoral race, Anderson said he was eager to continue working with Myrie on the issues. “It’s good for democracy to have candidates willing to step up and share a platform,” he said.
As a state senator, Myrie has positioned himself as a major proponent of criminal justice reform. Last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act — a bill he sponsored and championed for years — into law. It creates a system where millions of criminal convictions, with exceptions for sex crimes and most Class A felonies, will be automatically sealed a certain period of time after someone completes their incarceration.
Myrie also sponsored the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act, a measure lawmakers passed last year that would have made it easier for defendants to challenge convictions in cases where they pleaded guilty. But Hochul vetoed the bill, warning it could strain the court system with “frivolous” claims.
Additionally, Myrie is known for working to curb gun violence and reduce the flow of weapons into New York. He sponsored a law that allows civil lawsuits to be filed against gun manufacturers, and has attended events at the White House with advocates for gun violence prevention to discuss policy ideas.
Myrie is among a growing chorus of New York Democrats who have criticized the Adams administration’s handling of the migrant crisis and have urged city leaders to push for work permits for migrants, which federal officials have said is not feasible. Myrie has also called for expanding affordable housing across the city and state.
He was elected to the state Senate in 2018, ousting moderate Democrat Jesse Hamilton, an ally of Adams. He was born and raised in Brooklyn as the son of immigrants from Costa Rica.
Myrie is married to former state Assemblymember Diana Richardson. The couple sued the NYPD after video showed they were pepper sprayed and assaulted at a Black Lives Matter protest in Brooklyn in May 2020. They rent an apartment together in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
Jon Campbell contributed reporting.