Eric Adams has a real chance to stop Mamdani — but Andrew Cuomo needs to drop out

Could Mayor Eric Adams turn out to be the comeback kid — and save New York from antisemitic, socialist “snake-oil salesman” Zohran Mamdani?

Adams, who met with The Post’s editorial board Wednesday, thinks so. And he’s far from delusional about that.

Only one catch: Adams’ plan would work a whole lot better with Andrew Cuomo — ousted as governor and shellacked embarrassingly in Tuesday’s primary — out of the race, rather than running as an independent.

Indeed, Cuomo should make a public announcement, ASAP, that he’s out.

How can Adams win? The mayor notes that 33-year-old “snake-oil salesman,” as Hizzoner calls Mamdani, got many of his votes in the primary from “young, white” Democrats, who “romanticize” about the socialist vision, even though many “don’t know what socialism is.”

Yet traditional Dems, those who voted for someone other than Mamdani, have more sense and would go for Adams in November.

Plus, the city has more than 1 million registered but unaffiliated voters; Adams hopes to draw much of his support from them, too — not to mention Republicans who want to keep Mamdani away from City Hall and don’t think GOP hopeful Curtis Sliwa can do the trick.

Hizzoner is also counting on “immigrants who lived under socialism” and know its dangers.

Jewish groups, he notes, are determined to keep Mamdani — who doesn’t believe Jews deserve a state of their own and couldn’t even back a resolution condemning the Holocaust — from winning.

Business leaders, too, as Charles Gasparino reports, are dropping their support for Cuomo and eyeing Adams as their “best shot.”

Adams has had his problems; he knows that. But he’s finally on an even keel and has got a good team in place. We’re heartened by his admission that he needs to “rebuild trust.” 

So while the experts once saw Adams as toast, he’s got a real chance now.

Still, if Cuomo were to continue his campaign as an independent, he’d risk splitting the non-Mamdani vote — and paving the way for the socialist to win.

Which is why the ex-gov has got to announce he’s stepping aside, quickly.

Remember, it’s not just radicalized young voters who don’t want Cuomo; it’s also New Yorkers who recall his horrific record: Congestion pricing. Criminal-justice “reforms” that surged crime. A climate agenda that’s spiking utility bills and undermining the grid. COVID “leadership” that led to needless deaths in nursing homes.

Sliwa, too, might understand the need to step aside. He and the GOP need to unite behind a candidate who can put up a proper fight against the socialist threat from Mamdani.

And after Tuesday, it’s hard to see how Cuomo can win. And as Republican in heavily Democratic New York, Sliwa also faces long odds.

They both need to realize that, to save the city, New York needs a single candidate to provide an alternative to the looming Mamdani horror-show.