Eric Adams, a retired cop and former Brooklyn borough president, proclaimed “New York is back,” moments after he was sworn in as the city’s 110th mayor in Times Square following the New Year’s Eve ball drop.
The new mayor walked onto the celebration’s main stage with about 20 supporters as outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio danced to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” after he and wife Chirlane McCray ran out the clock on 2022.
Adams then took off his mask and hoisted a large framed picture of his late mother into the air as he was sworn into office on a family bible held by his son Jordan Coleman just minutes after midnight by Hon. Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
“I Eric Adams do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the State of New York and the charter of the City of New York, and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the mayor of the City of New York to the best of my abilities, so help me god,” the new-minted mayor said.
The 61-year-old Democrat who spent 22 years in the NYPD succeeds outgoing Mayor de Blasio, who was term-limited out of office and plans to run for governor.
Adams took a narrow victory in the crowded June Democratic primary then won the general election in November by a wide margin against Republican Curtis Sliwa.
The retired cop, former state senator, and outgoing Brooklyn borough president takes command of a Big Apple facing a spike in murders and shootings and combating a surge in Omicron cases amidst an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Crime and coronavirus aren’t the only challenges facing the new mayor. He’ll also have to get control of Rikers Island– the city’s notorious jail complex where 16 inmates have died this year and has suffered from neglect as de Blasio pursued a $9 billion plan to shutter the lockup in 2027.
And Adams recently set his own timeline for this spring to decide whether he’ll require COVID-19 vaccinations for the city’s one million public school students. He’s vowed to trim bureaucratic fat from the sprawling Department of Education and reinstate a gifted and talented program slashed by his predecessor.
Other major issues facing the new mayor include rising homelessness, record pedestrian deaths and an employment rate that’s double the national average.
An hour and a half before officially taking office, Adams told New Year’s Eve host Jonathan Bennett and the crowd of revelers assembled in Times Square that he was looking forward to helming the city’s “comeback” from the COVID-19 crisis.
“It’s just great when New York shows the entire country how we come back,” Adams said.
“You know, we all lived through our Pearl Harbor moments. It may be the Great Depression, the attack on Pearl Harbor; it may be COVID. But the reality is the resiliency of our city and our country, we show the entire globe what we’re made of.
“We’re unbelievable, this is an unbelievable city and trust me, we’re ready for a major comeback because this is New York.”
Adams plans to get right to work. He’ll take the subway to City Hall from Brooklyn on Jan. 1, arriving at the building by 8:30 a.m. and then holding a cabinet meeting at 9:00 a.m., according to his schedule.
He is then expected to address New Yorkers, sign executive orders, lead a roll call outside the 103rd police precinct in Jamaica, Queens with NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and take questions from the press.
The location is highly symbolic for the new mayor. As teenagers, Adams and his brother were badly beaten by police officers after they were arrested for trespassing. Both later joined to the NYPD to change it from the inside.