Mayor-elect Eric Adams pledges to make NYC 'safer' and more 'business-friendly'
NEW YORK - Mayor-elect Eric Adams promised Wednesday to be a practical and progressive mayor who will make the nation's largest city safer and more business-friendly.
Speaking with FOX 5 NY morning program, ‘Good Day New York,’ Adams said he "felt good for New Yorkers today."
Adams, the 61-year-old current Brooklyn borough president, defeated Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels and a radio talk show host. He will succeed Bill de Blasio, who is term-limited, as the leader of the country's largest city.
"We have to build a foundation and you build a foundation in a city on safety, public safety and justice. I stated this on the campaign trail That is a prerequisite to prosperity. If we're not safe in the subway, we're nog toing to get people back in the office. If we're not safe in our tourists areas, we're not going to get tourists here," said Adams.
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Adams will be New York City's second Black mayor. He will take office on Jan. 1 in a city where more than 34,500 people have been killed by COVID-19, and where the economy is still beset by challenges related to the pandemic. The tourism industry hasn’t come back yet. Office buildings remain partly empty, with people still working from home. Schools are trying to get children back on track after a year of distance learning.
"I'm going to be a GSD mayor- get stuff done. We have to get it done. If you don't get it done if you are in the place that's called the Empire State yet you are destroying empires every day. We're not friendly. People are afraid to do business in the city, too bureaucratic, too expensive and too difficult. My agency heads are going to get a new mandate; instead of walking into a business figure out how to close it down, we are going to figure out how to keep it open."
On Election Day, Adams carried a photo of his late mother, to the voting booth in Brooklyn. He teared up as he portrayed his life as a New York story, taking him from a poor childhood to City Hall.
When Adams takes office he'll inheri a city where more than 34,500 people have been killed by COVID-19, and where the economy is still beset by challenges related to the pandemic. The tourism industry hasn’t come back yet. Office buildings remain partly empty, with people still working from home. Schools are trying to get children back on track after a year of distance learning.
"Tonight, New York has chosen one of you -- one of our own. I am you. I am you," Adams told supporters at his victory party. "After years of praying and hoping and struggling and working, we are headed to City Hall."
Adams won a crowded and close Democratic primary by running as a moderate and promising to focus on public safety. His 22-year career as a police officer bolstered his law-and-order credentials. Soon after he retired from the NYPD as a captain, he was elected to the state Senate.
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Adams was heavily favored over Sliwa in part because registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in New York City about seven to one.
He has promised to address inefficiency in government and inequality in the city at large.
The late David Dinkins was the city's first Black mayor. He served one term, from 1990 through 1993. He died in 2020 at age 93.