Eric Adams Takes Workplace as New York Metropolis’s one hundred and tenth Mayor at a Perilous Second

Eric Leroy Adams was sworn in because the one hundred and tenth mayor of New York Metropolis early Saturday in a festive however pared-down Occasions Sq. ceremony, a sign of the formidable job earlier than him as he begins his time period whereas coronavirus instances are surging anew.

Mr. Adams, 61, the son of a home cleaner who was a New York City police captain earlier than coming into politics, has known as himself “the way forward for the Democratic Social gathering,” and pledged to deal with longstanding inequities as the town’s “first blue-collar mayor,” whereas concurrently embracing the enterprise group.

But not since 2002, when Michael R. Bloomberg took workplace shortly after the Sept. 11 assaults, has an incoming mayor confronted such daunting challenges in New York Metropolis. Even earlier than the most recent Omicron-fueled surge, the town’s financial system was nonetheless struggling to get better, with its 9.4 percent unemployment rate greater than double the nationwide common. Murders, shootings and another classes of violent crimes rose early within the pandemic and have remained increased than earlier than the virus started to unfold.

Mr. Adams ran for mayor on a public security message, utilizing his working-class and police background to convey empathy for the elements of New York nonetheless battling the consequences of crime.

Mr. Adams’s first job as mayor, nevertheless, can be to assist New Yorkers navigate the Omicron variant and a troubling spike in instances. Town has recorded over 40,000 cases per day in current days, and the variety of hospitalizations is rising. Town’s testing system, as soon as the envy of the nation, has struggled to fulfill demand and lengthy traces kind exterior testing websites.

Issues over the virus precipitated some rejiggering of inauguration plans: Alvin Bragg, the primary Black particular person to carry the workplace of Manhattan district lawyer, postponed his inauguration ceremony to March 6 due to Covid issues; he took the oath in a personal ceremony after midnight.

Mr. Adams canceled his inauguration ceremony indoors at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, which was to be a tribute to the voters exterior Manhattan who elected him. As an alternative, Mr. Adams selected the backdrop of the ball-drop crowd, which itself had been restricted for distancing functions to only a quarter of the same old dimension.

Nonetheless, his swearing-in ceremony in Occasions Sq., shortly after the ceremonial countdown, was jubilant, and the brand new mayor mentioned he was hopeful in regards to the metropolis’s future.

“Belief me, we’re prepared for a serious comeback as a result of that is New York,” Mr. Adams mentioned, standing among the many revelers earlier within the evening.

Mr. Adams, the second Black mayor within the metropolis’s historical past, was sworn in utilizing a household Bible, held by his son, Jordan Coleman, and clasping a framed {photograph} of his mom, Dorothy, who died final spring.

As Mr. Adams left the stage, he proclaimed, “New York is again.”

Mayor Invoice de Blasio additionally attended the Occasions Sq. celebration and danced together with his spouse onstage after main the midnight countdown — his final official act as mayor after eight years in workplace.

Mr. Adams, who grew up poor in Queens, represents a center-left brand of Democratic politics. He may provide a mix of the final two mayors — Mr. de Blasio, who was identified to cite Karl Marx, and Michael R. Bloomberg, a billionaire and a former Republican like Mr. Adams.

Mr. Adams narrowly won a competitive Democratic primary final summer season when coronavirus instances had been low and thousands and thousands of New Yorkers had been getting vaccinated. Town had began to rebound slowly after the virus devastated the financial system and left greater than 35,000 New Yorkers useless. Now that instances are spiking once more, corporations in Manhattan have deserted return to workplace plans, and lots of Broadway reveals and eating places have closed.

With faculties set to reopen on Monday, Mr. Adams should determine how to keep students and teachers safe whereas making certain that faculties stay open for in-person studying. Mr. Adams has insisted that the town can’t shut down once more and should study to stay with the virus, and he has been supportive of Mr. de Blasio’s vaccine mandates.

On Thursday, Mr. Adams introduced that he would retain New York Metropolis’s vaccine requirement for private-sector employers. The mandate, which was applied by Mayor de Blasio and is the primary of its form within the nation, went into impact on Monday.

Even so, Mr. Adams made it clear that his focus is on compliance, not aggressive enforcement; it stays unclear whether or not he would require academics, cops and different metropolis staff to obtain a booster shot.

Mr. Adams has additionally mentioned that he needs to proceed Mr. de Blasio’s concentrate on decreasing inequality, whilst he has sought to foster a greater relationship with the town’s elites.

“I genuinely don’t assume he’s going to be within the field of being a conservative or a progressive,” mentioned Christina Greer, an affiliate professor of political science at Fordham College. “Adams is worked up to maintain folks on their toes.”

When Mr. de Blasio took workplace in 2014, he and his allies made it clear that his administration would provide a clear break from the Bloomberg period; he famously characterised New York as a “story of two cities,” and vowed to slim the inequity hole that he mentioned had widened underneath Mr. Bloomberg.

For probably the most half, Mr. Adams has signaled that his administration is not going to range drastically from Mr. de Blasio’s. A number of of his current cupboard appointments labored within the de Blasio administration.

There can be some variations: Mr. Adams mentioned he doesn’t plan to finish the town’s gifted and proficient program, as Mr. de Blasio had supposed. Mr. Adams has additionally vowed to convey again a plainclothes police unit that was disbanded in 2020, in an effort to get extra weapons off the road.

Mr. Adams will take the helm of the town throughout a interval of racial reckoning, after the pandemic uncovered profound financial and well being disparities. On the identical time, requires police reform and measures to deal with the town’s segregated public faculties are rising.

Throughout the mayoral marketing campaign, Mr. Adams confronted vital questions from his opponents and the information media over issues of transparency, residency and his personal financial dealings. Mr. Adams mentioned he was unfazed by the criticism and was centered on “getting stuff performed.”

Mr. Adams, who served 4 phrases as a state senator earlier than being elected as Brooklyn borough president in 2013, must construct relationships with metropolis and state lawmakers, a few of whom wish to push him to the left. He confronted a setback final month when his choose to be the subsequent Metropolis Council speaker misplaced to Adrienne Adams, a Democratic member from Queens who was supported by left-leaning members. Nonetheless, Mr. Adams is shut with Ms. Adams, who endorsed him for mayor, and the pair just lately posted a photo collectively on social media standing exterior the highschool they attended in a present of unity.

Mr. Adams has sought to ascertain a pleasant relationship with Gov. Kathy Hochul, who appeared onstage with him at his election evening victory rally in November. Working collectively — not like their famously warring predecessors, Mr. de Blasio and former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — may have political advantages for each of them.

His mayoral marketing campaign centered on public security, however he additionally released a flurry of proposals on different points, together with preserving faculties open year-round, offering tax credits to poor New Yorkers, and creating “universal child care” for youngsters youthful than 3.

However his current feedback about bringing back a form of solitary confinement in jails, which he calls “punitive segregation,” have arrange his first main battle with the Metropolis Council.

“I wore a bulletproof vest for 22 years and guarded the folks of this metropolis,” Mr. Adams mentioned. “And while you do this, then you may have the appropriate to query me on security and public security issues. I feel I do know somewhat one thing about this.”

As Mr. Adams was getting ready to take the J prepare to Metropolis Corridor from Brooklyn on Saturday morning, he noticed a battle escape on the road beneath the subway platform — an instance of the violence he’s making an attempt to fight as mayor.

He known as 911. “I’ve an assault in progress — three males,” Mr. Adams informed the dispatcher earlier than offering his title: “Adams, Mayor Adams.”

Mr. Adams, who has been guarded about his private life, will reside in Gracie Mansion; his longtime partner, Tracey Collins, a high-ranking official on the metropolis’s Division of Training, is not going to stay there. Ms. Collins appeared by his facet in Occasions Sq. — a uncommon public look collectively.

Stylistically, Mr. Adams may very well be probably the most flamboyant mayor New York Metropolis has seen in a long time. Mr. Adams is an early riser, a vegan and a wellness fanatic who retains a frenetic schedule; he’s a classy dresser who campaigned shirtless at Orchard Beach within the Bronx; he socializes with Republican billionaires and celebrities; he needs to take his first paycheck in Bitcoin.

After his election evening victory speech, Mr. Adams partied at Zero Bond, a personal membership in NoHo, the place that evening’s visitors included the comic Chris Rock, the actor Forest Whitaker, the rapper Ja Rule and enterprise leaders like Eric Schmidt, the previous chief govt of Google, and James Dolan, the proprietor of the Knicks and Madison Sq. Backyard.

“Sure, I like my Ferragamo, and sure, I do go to Zero Bond. However you understand what? I additionally go to Sugar Hill on Nostrand Avenue,” Mr. Adams mentioned at a Democratic fund-raiser in November, referring to a supper membership in Brooklyn. “Sure, I do hang around with the boys at evening, however I rise up with the lads within the morning.”

Mr. Adams has promised to make the town enjoyable once more. He visited “The Late Present with Stephen Colbert” just lately with a faux bag of marijuana in tow — a nod to legalization efforts.

“We was the best place on the globe,” he mentioned. “We’re so rattling boring now.”

Nate Schweber contributed reporting.