Just 20% of New York City voters approve of the job Mayor Adams is doing as he faces calls to resign amid the Trump Justice Department’s controversial bid to drop his federal corruption indictment, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The Quinnipiac University poll’s finding marks the lowest approval rating a New York City mayor has received in a Quinnipiac survey since the university started quizzing local voters on that metric nearly 30 years ago. Quinnipiac’s previous all-time low was the 28% approval rating Adams got in a survey from December 2023, nine months before his indictment.
“Unpopular even before an indictment on federal corruption charges, voters’ confidence in Mayor Adams sinks to a new low now that his legal case has become a national controversy,” said Mary Snow, Quinnipiac’s assistant polling director.
The poll also found 67% of city voters disapprove of the job Adams is doing, while 13% declined to opine on his performance.
The poll surveyed 1,260 registered city voters between Feb. 27 and this past Monday.
Though also deeply unpopular in New York City, President Trump scored a better rating than Adams, with Quinnipiac giving him a 30%-65% approval-disapproval split.
Just 18% of those surveyed say Adams is “honest and trustworthy,” while 69% replied he’s not. Those surveyed said by a margin of 57%-30% that they disapprove of his handling of public safety, the main issue he campaigned on during his successful 2021 run for mayor.
The troubling findings for Adams come after Trump’s political appointees at the Justice Department moved last month to drop the mayor’s indictment with the understanding that it could be brought back for a new prosecution as soon as November.
In a dismissal request that’s still pending approval from a federal judge, Trump’s DOJ wrote it expects quashing the mayor’s case will better allow him to facilitate Trump’s effort to target undocumented New Yorkers for “mass deportations,” a caveat that has led many to believe the mayor is beholden to Trump’s agenda.
Adams denies engaging in any quid pro quo with Trump’s administration.
The unusual nature of the dismissal request has prompted a number of local top elected leaders to call on Adams to step down, and Quinnipiac’s poll suggest New York City voters also want him out of office. According to the poll, 56% of voters think Adams should resign, while 35% think he should stay. The poll also found 56% of voters want Adams to stand up more to Trump on immigration issues, vs. 33% who want more cooperation.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak wouldn’t directly address the poll’s findings, but said the mayor “ran to make our city safer and more affordable, and we’re doing that every day.”
“Mayor Adams and his administration will continue to deliver for New Yorkers every day as we make our city the best place to raise a family,” she said.
While the incumbent’s popularity plummets, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who announced last weekend he’s challenging Adams in June’s Democratic mayoral primary — remains a favorite in the race.
Quinnipiac’s pollsters found that if the primary was held today, 31% of Democratic primary voters would vote for Cuomo, while 11% would back Adams. Cuomo’s lead in the race was boosted by an outsized number voters who consider themselves political “moderates,” per the poll.
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo attends an event at New York City Council of Carpenters in New York on March 2, 2025. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who’s also challenging Adams, came in third in the primary race poll, netting 8%, while fellow mayoral candidates Scott Stringer got 6%, Brad Lander 5%, Jessica Ramos 4% and Zellnor Myrie 1%.
Though not a declared candidate for mayor, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is considering a run, netted 4% support in the mayoral race survey. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who’d become acting mayor if Eric Adams resigns, got 7% support, though he hasn’t announced a campaign, either.
Notably, 16% of the Democratic primary voters polled said they are “undecided” in the mayoral race.
The Democratic mayoral primary is scheduled for June 24, and Snow, the Quinnipiac pollster, said the “undecided” category is a “key number to watch” as the election draws nearer.
The poll queried 1,260 New York City self-identified registered voters between Feb, 27 and March 3, Quinnipiac said. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.