#Citizens Union ranks Garcia 1st, Adams 2nd for mayor

The city’s top civic watchdog group ranked former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia first and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams second in the Democratic primary election for mayor ahead of early voting beginning Saturday.

Citizens Union also listed city Comptroller Scott Stringer as its third-ranked choice.

The primary election is June 22.

“This is our most consequential mayoral election in decades and our first under ranked-choice voting. As a result, we are expressing our preference for multiple candidates in the crowded Democratic primary field, but two, in particular, rose above the rest,” said Citizens Union chairman Randy Mastro, a former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani.

“We prefer Kathryn Garcia for her proven track record of successfully managing City agencies through crises. We prefer Eric Adams for his inspiring leadership and impressive agenda emphasizing public safety and economic recovery.”

“Garcia and Adams received, by far, the most support among our Board members, but in a close vote, Garcia outpolled Adams in our ranked choice vote. So from this strong field, we are pleased to be able to recommend these candidates to New York City’s Democratic primary voters.”

Mastro added that the 120-year civic group expressed a third-place preference for Stringer, citing his decades of public service and experience as comptroller. Stringer’s campaign has been rocked by sexual harassment accusations, which Citizens Union did not mention in its statement.

In the comptroller’s race, the group ranked Manhattan state Sen. Brian Benjamin first and Council Speaker Corey Johnson second. It ranked Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander third.

Meanwhile the mayoral candidates on Friday touted other endorsements before early voting begins.

Adams landed the endorsement of the NYC District Council of Carpenters and Staten Island Councilwoman Debi Rose, as well as actor and civil rights activist Danny Glover.

“The pandemic knocked New York City to the ground, and we need a mayor who is going to lift us all back up and there is no one better than Borough President Eric Adams to do just that,” said Joseph Geiger, executive secretary-treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters.

“If you care about good jobs, if you care about safety, if you never abandoned New York City and want a mayor who will never abandon you, then there is only one choice on June 22nd: Eric Adams.”

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang snagged the endorsement of former Brooklyn Councilman Sal Albanese, who ran for mayor against Bill de Blasio in 2017. He moved to Staten Island and is now running for a Staten Island council seat.

“Andrew is not part of the political class of New York City — he’s an outsider, and what we don’t need is more people from the political class that have eroded the quality of life in New York City,” Albanese said during an appearance with Yang on Staten Island.

“We’ve seen eight years of pay-to-play corruption with this administration. We want to turn the page, turn the page, start with a clean slate, and Andrew can do that. There’s not a whiff of corruption around Andrew Yang — he has integrity, he’s well-known as an, as an independent.”

“The reason why Bill de Blasio is trying to derail his candidacy is because Andrew will end business as usual.”