Mayor Adams, as he looks to the right for votes, meeting with conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg

Mayor Adams plans to meet privately next week with Sid Rosenberg, an influential conservative talk radio host who recently had a falling-out with the mayor, but whose sizable audience could be a key voting bloc for him in November's election.

Rosenberg's "Sid and Friends" show, New York's No. 1 talk radio morning hit, touts an audience largely comprising centrist and conservative New Yorkers — constituencies that could be critical for Adams as he scrambles to build a coalition to back him in November.

Rosenberg's show offers a direct pipeline to those segments of voters, and media observers note the mayor likely is aware Rosenberg's frequent, harsh on-air tirades against him stand to wound him politically.

Rosenberg Adams

Obtained by Daily News

Sid Rosenberg and Eric Adams at Wolfgang's Steakhouse in Manhattan.

After not speaking for well over a year, reps for Adams, who's running as an independent in November's election, recently reached out to Rosenberg to set up a private sit-down, now confirmed for Tuesday afternoon at Gracie Mansion.

Khadijah Costley White, a media studies professor at Rutgers University, said it appears Adams may be extending an olive branch to Rosenberg to try to "cut into where he can" for political support.

"Obviously, Adams is going to need to create a coalition that is much different than the one that he had to create [in 2021] in order to become mayor," she said, referencing his first election.

Adams is facing some tough electoral math in the November contest. Still reeling from fallout from his federal corruption indictment, Adams is squaring off against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, the favorite to win, as well as ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and lawyer Jim Walden.

Rosenberg, in a Friday interview with the Daily News from Cyprus, where he was vacationing, said next week's Gracie confab will double as a conversation about the 2025 mayoral race and as an opportunity for the mayor to mend some fences.

He noted he a few months ago had a similar meeting with Cuomo, who's also running as an independent against Mamdani, a democratic socialist.

"You betcha," Rosenberg said when asked if he believes the sit-down will be an opportunity for Adams to try to convince him to tone down his on-air criticisms. "You think if you're Eric Adams or Andrew Cuomo you want this loudmouth shouting at them every morning on the radio?"

"This will be the first time in a long time I will talk to him, it's long overdue for him and for me," continued Rosenberg, an ardent supporter of President Trump who has endorsed Sliwa in the mayoral election.

"I think it only makes sense that the mayor and I sit down and have a spirited conversation … I may even raise my voice, and he may say 'Hey Sid, go f–k yourself.'"

For most of his time in City Hall, Adams was close with Rosenberg, who used to call the mayor a "good friend," regularly socialized with him and often invited him on his morning talk radio show for chummy interviews.

But that changed in spring 2024, when pro-Palestinian protests erupted across the city and Rosenberg grew furious with Adams for what he perceived as his administration's insufficiently aggressive response.

Rosenberg stopped talking to Adams and began pummelling him on the air, accusing him of turning a blind eye to antisemitism while also knocking him for his federal corruption indictment.

In his interview with The News, Rosenberg said he's open to hearing Adams out, but affirmed he's sticking with Sliwa.

Sliwa, who's close with Rosenberg, said he also believes Adams is trying to curry political favor with Rosenberg's listeners by meeting with him.

"That is a group that Eric Adams desperately needs to do well with … It's a group with lots of votes," Sliwa said. "We feed off the same base."

In addition to himself and Adams, Rosenberg said John Chell, the NYPD's chief of department, and Kaz Daughtry, the mayor's deputy for public safety, will attend the closed-door meeting. He added it was set up by Kayla Mamelak, the mayor's spokeswoman at City Hall.

Mamelak said she was involved in her official spokesperson capacity because Rosenberg is a show host and "the mayor meets with reporters and show hosts all the time."

"A show host wants to meet with the mayor and I'm helping set that up," she said over text. "That is literally part of my job. Working with the press."

Originally Published: August 1, 2025 at 10:47 AM EDT