Adams has plans beyond public safety
Democratic nominee faces challenges to ideas
In the afterglow of winning the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, Eric Adams began to set out his mission if elected in November.
“Safety, safety, safety,” Adams said in one interview. “Making our city safe,” he said in another.
On Thursday, as a torrential storm flooded the city’s subway stations, Adams offered another priority: Fast-track the city’s congestion-pricing plan, which would charge fees to motorists entering Manhattan’s core, so that the money could be used to make critical improvements to the aging system.
The two initiatives encapsulate Adams’ selfcharacterization as a bluecollar candidate: Make the streets and the subway safe and reliable for New York’s working-class residents.
But they also hint at the challenges that await the city’s next mayor.
To increase public safety, Adams has said he would bring back a contentious plainclothes anti-crime unit that focused on getting guns off the streets. The unit was effective, but it was disbanded last year amid criticism of its reputation for using excessive force, and for its negative impact on the relationship between police officers and the communities they serve.
Congestion pricing was opposed by some state lawmakers, who wanted to protect the interests of constituents who needed to drive into Manhattan. But even though state officials approved the plan two years ago, it has yet to be introduced: A key review board that would guide the tolling structure has yet to be named; its six members are to be appointed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is controlled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Adams, who would be the city’s second Black mayor, would face other steep challenges: steering the city out of the pandemic; navigating the possibility of a new City Council trying to push him to the left; and grappling with significant budget deficits once federal recovery aid is spent.
Some of New York City’s mayoral transitions have reflected wild swings from one ideology to another.
The current mayor, Bill de Blasio, ran on a promise to end the city’s vast inequities, which he said had worsened under his billionaire predecessor, Michael Bloomberg.
Privately, de Blasio supported Adams in the competitive primary, believing he was the person best suited to carry on de Blasio’s progressive legacy, and if Adams defeats the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, an abrupt change in the city’s direction is unlikely.
But in some ways, Adams has staked out positions on issues such as affordable housing, transportation and education that suggest a shift.
On education, Adams is viewed as friendly toward charter schools and he does not want to get rid of the specialized admissions test that has kept many Black and Latino students out of the city’s elite high schools, a departure from de Blasio’s stance.