Speaker Adams
With the dust settling on the City Council speaker’s race, Adrienne Adams of Queens will become the first Black councilmember ever to preside over the body. African-Americans, at an apparent apex of local political power, are set to occupy that office, the mayoralty, the speakership of the Assembly, and the leadership of the state Senate. Black New Yorkers will be state attorney general, Manhattan and Bronx district attorney, U.S. attorney for the Southern and Eastern District, and the leader of the city’s delegation in the U.S. House. These officials, of course, represent a wide diversity of viewpoints and will clash often. As America’s first Black president could attest, representation does not instantly solve problems.
A clear progressive by national standards, Speaker-to-be Adams will oversee a 51-member chamber where a significant bloc of the dominant Democratic caucus wants to serve as a check on a more moderate Mayor Adams. Fortunately, the incoming speaker is on roughly the same page as her namesake, especially on policing.
While it serves no one to have a local legislature and executive in total lockstep, there are equally significant risks of an uber-progressive Council constantly trying to force a mayor to implement policies at odds with his agenda. A strong mayor has served New York City well for generations. Whenever possible, partnership between the two sides of City Hall is essential.
Speaker Adams’ main job is herding dozens of ambitious cats who are eager to position themselves for higher office. While any member should be free to introduce any bill they’d like and endeavor to garner support, she should work to distinguish between serious policymaking and posturing for political audiences. And Council bills that impact the economy should be based on rigorous analysis, not back-of-theenvelope scribbles by interest groups.
No doubt some Council members will grumble about her heavy hand, just as members did about the current speaker and the speaker before, but in the end they should remember they collectively elected her, in part because they trust that she can pick the right fights.