New York’s Current Mayor, Eric Adams Isn't Leading. He's Floundering
When Mayor Bill de Blasio’s term in office was coming to a close in 2021, most New Yorkers had had it with his disastrous far-left ideology. They were rightfully tired of their city serving as a laboratory for quixotic progressive policies.
Desperate for a mayor who would restore a sense of normalcy, voters turned to Eric Adams.
On paper, he appeared to be a sensible choice.
As a former cop, he knew the streets of the City.
As a former state senator, he understood the ways of the state capitol. As Brooklyn borough president, he was familiar with the day-to-day issues confronting New Yorkers.
However, after two years in office, there is a growing lack of confidence in the mayor’s ability to govern.
He's correctly perceived as a poor communicator who can't come to grips with many of the City’s most pressing problems.
A recent Quinnipiac College public opinion poll revealed that only 28% of New Yorkers approve of Adams’ performance in office.
Sixty-six percent disapprove of his handling of the migrant crisis; 60% are dissatisfied with his handling of crime; 66% frown upon his management of the City’s budget; and 69% oppose his public-school policies.
Moreover, 52% said they believe that the federal investigation into allegations of illegal foreign money contributions to Adam’s campaign coffers has merit.
"There is no good news for Mayor Adams in this poll," a Quinnipiac spokesman concluded. "Not only are voters giving him poor grades on the job he’s doing at City Hall, their views on his character have dimmed."
Here’s my take on the mayor’s handling of key issues:
Migrant Crisis: The mayor has failed to stem the influx of illegal migrants.
Taxpayers will be shelling out $4 billion to support over 173,000 migrants this year.
The homeless shelter system has been overwhelmed.
The number of asylum seekers in shelters jumped 53% in 2023. Migrants are roaming neighborhood streets knocking on doors begging for money.
Students have been sent home to learn remotely because their school gyms and auditoriums are packed with migrants.
- The mayor should be banging pots and pans demanding the repeal of the cities’ "right to shelter laws."
- He should be leading a parade of Democratic mayors to Washington demanding the Biden administration abandon their calamitous border policies.
If Adams continues to bungle the migrant issue, the continuing influx will force him to cut essential services. And such action will only exasperate the crisis.
Welfare: The number of people receiving handouts from the City has been growing by leaps and bounds. There were 720,000 residents (one out of eight) receiving assistance in 2023, versus 614,000 in 2022 — a 17% jump.
The mayor has failed to employ programs that require recipients of the City’s largesse to seek employment.
"With our resources stretched thinner than ever, critical services under threat, and the tax base fleeing to other states," Democratic City councilman Robert Holden has warned, "we’ve got to slam the brakes on the gravy train before it’s too late."
Crime: While the number of murders declined in 2023, there were increases in assaults, grand larceny, and stabbings. Nevertheless, crime is still up compared to the pre-COVID-19 crime statistics.
Record-breaking retirements of veteran police officers is the consequence of the mayor’s inability to convince Albany to repeal ludicrous no-bail and discovery laws, plus his failure to use the immense powers of his office to sustain his veto of the ridiculous "How Many Stops Act" — which requires cops to record the race and gender of almost every contact with the public.
Then there’s the growing migrant crime wave.
Gangs of illegal immigratns have been riding mopeds throughout the City assaulting cops and pedestrians and robbing storefronts.
The NYPD’s chief of detectives, Joseph King, admitted that these criminal gangs are "ghosts" with "no criminal history, no photos, no cell phones, no social media. Sometimes we’re even unclear on a name or a date of birth."
City Schools: The mayor has surrendered to the public-school teachers union as costs soar — $35,000 per pupil—and reading and math scores spiral downward.
The long and short of it, the mayor is floundering.
And how is the mayor reacting to criticism of his administration?
He’s blaming it on — you got it — racism.
At a recent town hall meeting in Brooklyn, Mayor Adams told participants that his polling numbers were dismal because his administration is "too chocolate."
That’s a bit rich considering minorities are a majority of New York City’s population.
If the City is to survive, New Yorkers in 2025 must choose a new mayor who is not afraid to take on City Hall’s radical leftists, to rescind their destructive fiscal, economic, and education policies and to restore law and order in City neighborhoods.
The questions are: Will there emerge a candidate who has the guts to tell the truth about the City’s predicament, and will a majority of voters listen?
Good Lord, I hope so.
George J. Marlin, a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the author of "The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact," and "Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy." Read George J. Marlin's Reports — More Here.
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