He arrives at campaign events like a well-preserved relic of the political past, a little leaner and more gray, but spry enough to extract himself from behind the wheel of his muscle car of the moment, a sleek Dodge Charger.

Questions?

He’ll take a few, perhaps, but only after the event — typically a Sunday visit to a Black church in New York City.

Will he attend the next Democratic mayoral forum?

Probably not, especially if the other candidates, who trail him in the polls, might be onstage with him. But if given a chance to speak alone, unencumbered by rivals who might draw attention to the scandals that led to his resignation as governor in 2021, Andrew M. Cuomo may well be interested.

In his comeback run for mayor of New York City, Mr. Cuomo has fully embraced a so-called Rose Garden strategy, attending a small number of orchestrated events that allow him to avoid confrontational interactions with his opponents.

As governor, Mr. Cuomo used the strategy in his re-election efforts. As a mayoral candidate, he is doing so again — even without the benefit of incumbency.

That has drawn broad criticism from his rivals, including the actual incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, who said Mr. Cuomo was hiding “in the shadows” and not facing the scrutiny that all candidates should.