(Bloomberg) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams dined with Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday in one of the first public outings by the former New York governor since he resigned last year following multiple sexual harassment allegations, including by several women who worked for him.
The two-hour outing — at Osteria La Baia in Manhattan's Theater District — marks the latest attempt by Cuomo to re-emerge in the public eye following the dismissal of investigations by a number of district attorneys across the state, which followed a damning report by the New York Attorney General, an Assembly impeachment investigation and the resignation of the three-term governor. Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.
An Adams spokesperson confirmed the dinner, which was first reported by the New York Post.
“Mayor Adams meets with a lot of former government officials to talk about governance, which is particularly important in these unprecedented times,” said Adams's Press Secretary Fabien Levy. “There was nothing political about the conversation, and the mayor stands by his earlier comments that the former governor should have stepped down, as he did.”
Cuomo still has a $16.4 million campaign war chest and continues to raise small-dollar donations, raising suspicion that the former governor could run for public office again. New York's relatively lax election laws don't require candidates to return campaign funds even when they're no longer running for office. In recent days Cuomo has been tweeting vows to fight back against the public narrative about him, with his spokesperson telling supporters to “stay tuned.”
Adams, who's enjoying high popularity during the first month of his administration, has had a long relationship with Cuomo. Adams, 60, and Cuomo, 63, overlapped for two years in Albany but have run in similar New York political circles for most of their adult lives. After Adams was elected, Cuomo praised him as “a person who will step in and show real leadership, especially on the issues of crime and quality of life.”
Read More: Cuomo's $16.4 Million War Chest Stirs Queries on What's Next
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