Eric Adams is fundraising at Broadway show ‘New York, New York’

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Start spreading the news – Mayor Eric Adams is hosting a Broadway show campaign fundraiser at “New York, New York” on June 16. And his 2025 reelection campaign is getting close to maxing out, hitting the limit of what a mayoral bid can spend, once public matching funds are factored in, said Frank Carone, Adams’ chief of staff turned presumptive campaign chair. Of course, the campaign claimed that last summer too, before their impressive, but nowhere near max out report went up. So Carone is giving himself some space, “maybe instead of a home run we’ll hit a double,” he told City & State. A source said Adams himself has been calling around to get people in the theater.

Despite middling reviews, seats aren’t cheap. A digital flyer showed the campaign asking for the maximum contribution of $2,100 for priority seating, $1,500 for mezzanine seating and $1,000 for the balcony. The musical itself, meanwhile, is hawking balcony seats for $49 each. 

Adams has boosted the show before, co-naming a street for the show’s composer and lyricist, who wrote the iconic “Theme from ‘New York, New York’” for the 1977 movie. Fundraising at a Broadway show will “bring attention to the arts and how important they are to the revitalization of the business and tourism,” Carone said. It could also get all the money set before Adams even has an opponent. “The idea is to just move this from his mind, a distraction,” Carone said, “and when the campaign starts, put the focus on substantive issues.”

PR maven Ken Sunshine is one of the night’s co-chairs, who praised Adams’ support of Broadway and other entertainment coming out of the pandemic. “Where do you think your tax dollars come from?” he said. “It’s arts, culture.”