Adams has a small die-hard base of hustler-culture types and reactionaries who will keep voting for him. That’s where he’s getting his 8% approval from. But he’s dead weight against Cuomo, who wants a coronation based on name recognition, rather than a street fight with Zohran Mamdani.

So Adams is dropping out in order to clear the way for a Cuomo primary stomping. Meanwhile, he gets to salvage his pride by running as an independent against a guy whose own pile of dirty laundry will be all over the street by election day, which gives him a non-zero chance of keeping his job.