During his first months in office, Mayor Eric Adams faced numerous obstacles to New York City’s recovery.
Violent crime has been on the rise, highlighted by a mass shooting on the subway this month. Coronavirus cases have recently rebounded, and the city’s unemployment rate remains well above the national average.
In his first State of the Union address, Mr. Adams acknowledged the enormous challenges facing the city after two years of disruption and devastation from the pandemic, saying on Tuesday that New York was “still in period of deep concern”.
But seeking to mark a new chapter in New York City’s revitalization, the mayor outlined a hopeful vision for its future, arguing he would begin the city’s comeback by focus more deeply on issues of public safety and inequality.
The mayor, a former police captain, has pledged to invest more money to tackle what he says are the root causes of crime: guns, mental illness and homelessness. He said the city’s recovery won’t happen unless New Yorkers feel safe.
“We can’t have a city where people are afraid to walk on the street, take the subway or send their children to school,” he said.
Mr. Adams highlighted several spending priorities as part of his latest $99.7 billion budget proposal, including $5 billion for affordable housing over 10 years and $55 million to open Expand the program to send emergency medical technicians and mental health professionals to certain 911 calls.
Mr. Adams also said that he would soon roll out plans to expand the daycare that would allow families making $55,000 a year to pay just $10 a week.
The mayor has previewed other plans in recent days for spending additional $171 million for homeless services to create 1,400 dedicated shelter beds and more $900 million in 5 years to make city streets safer.
“Despite the fear, trauma, uncertainty and heartbreak, we keep going,” Mr. Adams told a crowd of hundreds of supporters at the gilded Kings Theater in Brooklyn. “Because every New Yorker knows in their hearts that our city will come back. It already happened. I can feel it everywhere I go.”
Mr. Adams has also faced a lot of criticism during his first 100 days: for bringing back controversial crime-fighting police units, cleaning up homeless camps, doing made some controversial hires, withdrew pandemic restrictions and made exceptions to the vaccination rules for athletes, and appeared reluctant to release his tax returns .
Mr. Adams remained upbeat and said he was inspired by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who faced “a series of crises unlike those we are experiencing today” in the wake of the Great Recession. withdrawal.
“FDR understands that people need to think honestly about problems and make bold plans to solve them,” he said. “That is what I intend to offer my fellow New Yorkers.”
Mr. Adams, the former Brooklyn district president, had planned to hold his inauguration at the Kings Theater in January, but he canceled it because of safety concerns during a rise in coronavirus cases. Mr. Adams chose the theater, a lavishly restored cultural icon in Brooklyn, as a tribute to the county that fueled his rise to political prominence.
In February, Mr. Adams released his preliminary budget and pledged to cut spending by 3% at most city agencies. He proposed keeping police budgets stable, argued he could improve public safety by moving officers from desks to the streets, and called for a reduction in the city’s workforce, which already rose to an all-time high under his predecessor, Bill de Blasio.
The mayor’s operating budget, announced Tuesday, is up about $1.2 billion from his earlier proposal. The Mayor and City Council are required to reach a final budget agreement by July 1.
City Council leaders have criticized the mayor’s earlier proposal, arguing that it doesn’t spend enough to help the city’s most vulnerable residents. Council speaker, Adrienne Adams, and others have called for the city to spend more on youth programs and mental health services and for $4 billion spent on affordable and supportive housing.
Andrew Rein, chairman of the Citizens Budget Committee, a fiscal watchdog group, said the mayor’s new budget proposal added too much spending.
“The executive budget takes some positive steps but focuses more on spending, virtually excluding the savings, restructuring and efficiency needed to strengthen the city’s financial home.” he said.
Mr. de Blasio virtually gave his final speech on the State of the City last year and pledged “recovery for all,” focusing on immunizing millions of New Yorkers. Cases of the virus have increased again in the city recently, and Mr. Adams tested positive for the virus on April 10.
But Mr. Adams barely mentioned the city’s vaccination efforts on Tuesday and did not talk about booster shots. More than 87 percent of adults in the city are fully vaccinated, but only about 45 percent get a booster shot. Vaccination and booster rates are lower for children aged 5 to 17 years.
Mr. Adams voiced strong support for the Police Department on Tuesday and criticized Democrats, who he claimed had said “we don’t need our police” – part of his words. his recent criticism of the “poor police” movement.
“Let me tell you here and now: I will support my police, and we will make our city a safe city,” he said to cheers from the crowd. crowd.
