In the end, celebrity didn’t translate into victory – or even a second- or third-place finish, according to preliminary first-choice results.

Andrew Yang began his campaign for mayor with high name recognition and a near-monopoly on news media coverage.

He ended it with an early concession.

“I’ll confess to you all: There was so much about New York City that I did not know in terms of criss-crossing the city, visiting different neighborhoods and communities,” Yang said at his Primary Night party in Hell's Kitchen.

Yang campaigned at a frenetic pace, his energy levels unmatched and his message optimistic.

“Let’s give New York City the kind of change we’ve been waiting for!” he said at one recent stop.

But while many endorsers applauded him as an outsider new to politics, that newness showed on key issues.

“The repeal of 50a?” he once asked, stumped, as a reporter challenged: “Do you know what 50a is?”

Some of Yang’s views, including a pro-Israel tweet, also invited confrontations.

“What do you have to say about your tweet, directly to New Yorkers right now?” a passerby said to him in one exchange.

The day after his loss, Yang’s co-campaign manager spoke with NY1 about the point where the candidate’s fortunes appeared to reverse themselves.

“When this race was about getting the city open, hope and recovery, Andrew Yang was the candidate that people felt most comfortable with,” Chris Coffey said. “And as the city opened and as COVID dissipated and people got vaccinated, unfortunately, at the same time, shootings were going and the public safety message was a message that Eric Adams ran on and did well with.”

Top aides to Yang’s presidential campaign are pointing fingers at Tusk Strategies, the lobbying firm that steered Yang’s mayoral bid, for neglecting to take their advice.

“This loss is being squarely placed on this firm,” a 2020 adviser who did not want to be named told NY1.

But Coffey said much of the decision-making was collaborative.

He also said the news media didn’t scrutinize other candidates, including Eric Adams, to the degree they did Yang until too late.

“Whenever the actual history of this campaign is written, that has to be a small part of it,” Coffey said. “You don’t want to blame every other circumstance in the world. I deserve some blame. We didn’t win.”

Yang’s advisers and surrogates say they’re proud of the campaign and excited to see what comes next for Yang.

“I think this young man has done a remarkable amount and I think this is only the beginning for him,” said State Sen. John Liu. “He identified with people, people were drawn to him. He sang and danced along the way. He put out some really important policy initiatives.”

Yang himself declined to be interviewed.

He did send a tweet thanking supporters.