A crowded race for New York City Mayor got even more crowded Tuesday when Rev. Michael Blake, a former aide to Barack Obama and New York Assemblyman, opened his campaign with a speech in his native Bronx.

“We deserve a leader who won’t have headlines about investigations but rather have headlines about jobs,” said Blake, attacking current Mayor Eric Adams who has been indicted on charges of bribery and corruption.

He also criticized Adams for backing out of a meeting to address immigration.

“Never forget that on Nov. 2 of last year, when Mayor Adams literally landed in Washington, DC, for a meeting at the White House to address the migrant situation, he turned back around because his fundraiser was being raided,” Blake said. “He decided that it was more important to protect himself than protect you.”

A real contender

Blake spoke of himself as a “visionary moderate leader with progressive policy leanings.”

He supports universal child care and plans to offer tax credits to get people to come back to the city to work and live.

As the former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, Blake probably has more experience than other Adams challengers at working locally as well as at the state and national levels.

Blake also said he plans to fight the "incoming fascist president," unlike Adams who he said is trying to "align" with Trump.

Challenging Adams

“Unlike Mayor Adams, I won’t use my Saturday nights trying to be close to him in a UFC fight, but I’ll actually use my nights to make sure that you are safe and secure,” Blake said.

Blake was referring to a brief reported interaction between Adams and Trump during a recent UFC fight at Madison Square Garden.

He also called Adams a "Black MAGA mayor."

In the larger picture, Adams has spoken out about the Biden administration sending tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to New York City, saying that his city did not have the resources to absorb the migrants.

He has blamed his corruption charges on his outspokenness, implying that the federal government went after him for speaking out.

Other than Blake and Adams, there are currently six others running for mayor in the city.