NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Eric Adams set out Thursday to persuade skeptical voters to grant him a second term, hosting a kickoff event for his independent reelection bid after a corruption indictment, a controversial dismissal and a decision to drop out of a the Democratic primary.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams began campaigning in earnest for re-election Thursday as an independent candidate, attacking presumptive Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani by criticizing some of his progressive platforms.

Incumbent attempts to frame race against Democratic challenger as contest between experience and privilege or ‘dirty fingernails and manicured nails’