Eric Adams said that he is the “symbol of Black manhood, in this city [and], in this country.” The mayor clearly thinks highly of himself but is yet to prove his strength as a leader. Although he’s only been mayor for nearly two years, Adams failed to deliver. In the past year, major felony crime rose to record levels over the last 16 years. Ever since Eric Adams took office, New York City has fallen deeper into crisis from its long-running issues like crime, homelessness, and the rising cost of living, which Adams has actually worsened. 

It would be no surprise to most that New York is still very much a crime ridden city; all it takes to notice is to visit city centers or walk outside at night. The Bronx and Brooklyn have seen the highest crime rates compared to the rest of the city. The Bronx has had the highest violent crime rate of 6.81 per 1000 residents, while Brooklyn has had a slightly lower violent crime rate of 4.16. New York has not always been in the condition that the city is in now. In 2016, New York was experiencing a decrease in crime rates under former-mayor Bill DeBlasio, as per released historical data by NYPD Precincts, recording data since the early 2000s and through 2022. In 2022, crime rates rebounded, with a spike in crimes all throughout the city. “Most of the people committing these crimes are repeat offenders, meaning that they have a long history with us,” said Rene Aponte. 

Mr. Rene Aponte, Bureau Chief for the Office of the District Attorney, oversees the Complaint Room for the D.A., the department that processes police reports so that they can be sent to courts and prosecutors. 

“As of October 5th, 4:43 P.M, we have received a total of 166 cases today alone. This number usually gets higher heading towards the weekend and is normal for the week. We need people at the DA. Most of the people that come in only stay for about two to three years and then leave, so we’re very understaffed.” So how does this tie back to Eric Adams? 

Instead of funds, Adams has called for cuts, not just towards a few select City agencies, but to all City-funded organizations and agencies to cut their spending by nearly 15% to account for the migrant crisis. These cuts will affect the Department of Education, Department of Sanitation, NYPD, FDNY, the District Attorney’s office, etc. 

The Right-to-Shelter law is a one-of-a-kind bill that no other major U.S. city has. It mandates that homeless people be given access to a shelter with proper accommodations, including healthcare, food, and appropriate bedding. However, because of this law, the City and State department were forced to thin their resources to comply. The problem: there isn’t enough to go around.

Children, with their families, have had to sleep on the outskirts of the Arrival Centers; immigrant students are studying under street lamps at night, and food and clothing for these immigrants are running scarce. Adams promised these people that they would find better lives, but for many it has not improved. Not long after the first few rounds of buses from the Texas-Mexico border arrived in New York, Adams reported that New York was reaching its limit, despite his previous remarks that New York should receive more migrants coming in from the border. 

Throughout Adams’ political career, he has shown that he is a strong believer in NYC’s status as a sanctuary city and of the proposed New York for All Act. 

The New York for All Act wishes to firmly set New York as a sanctuary state and protect illegal immigrants from being apprehended by immigration officers. This bill would prohibit city authorities from being allowed to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to aid them in detaining illegal migrants.

If Adams were to sign the New York for All Act, then City officials would not be able to filter out possible threats from the New York City migrant population. The Department of Homeland Security issued that crimes across the border rose; cocaine seizures increased 62%, and more children are being exploited by cartels, human smugglers, and human traffickers alike. 

Mayor Adams has feuded with Governor Greg Abbott of Texas over his response to the surge of immigrants from the Texas-Mexico border, even going as far as to antagonize him, saying, “unlike Texas, where Governor Abbott is ordering troopers to push migrant children into the Rio Grande and deny asylum seekers drinking water, our city has continued to respond with humanity and compassion.”

States like Texas and Arizona have long had the issue of dealing with immigrants, and Democrats have criticized them for their response. Once Democratic states began to be on the receiving end of the migrant crisis, they couldn’t manage it and are discouraging immigration entirely. 

Eric Adams is falling short of his campaign promises, with recent failures in immigration policy at the forefront of his struggles. A prime example is the 60-Day policy. Incoming immigrants will be sent to Arrival Centers where they will be given appropriate housing and food. Immigrants will have 60 days to find work and relocate with family members or friends already living in New York, other states, or find other methods for alternative housing. Immigrants who are unable to relocate or find alternative housing will have to reapply for a new position in the Arrival Center, since their spot would be given to other immigrants.  

This policy was meant to relieve pressure off of city Arrival Centers and make room for more urgent immigration cases and asylum seekers. However, this policy does not fully address or solve the immigration crisis. For many, it has worsened the crisis due to the relatively short housing period that immigrants can use to find alternate housing or acquire work permits. Ibou Sene, an immigrant from Senegal said, “I don’t have friends or family where I could stay.”

The majority of immigrants will have to reapply for a position at an Arrival Center, not to mention the rising number of applications from new immigrants. This created the perfect storm to give birth to the crisis we are in. In 2022, 116,000 migrants came into New York, while only about 60,000 received protection and care from the city. Even with the opening of more than 200 emergency shelters and expansion of Arrival Centers, the City department is struggling to accommodate everyone.

What about closer to home? Mayor Adams approved a bill to the New York Rent Guidelines that would allow landlords with rent-stabilized apartments to raise their rents up to 9 percent. If you pay $3,575 a month for rent, the average rent price in New York City as of October 2023, with an increase of up to 9 percent, you would now be paying $3,933 a month. This would end up totaling more than $47,000 a year. The median household income for New York City was recorded as $70,663, so rent alone would account for about 67% of a person’s annual income, excluding electricity and gas bills. 

The purpose of this bill was to help small landlords compete with larger companies. The issue is how this bill would push back affordable housing projects that aimed to lower rent for everyone, not just a select few. 

Unfortunately, Mayor Adams has turned a blind eye to complaints. His method of defense: religion and name-calling. 

For example, Mayor Adams was scrutinized for his response to a Holocaust survivor when he likened her to a plantation owner. Another controversy arose when Adams referred to his Republican mayoral competitor as a “buffoon” after she was arrested for protesting the city’s misuse of shelters. He also called out the city’s comptroller, Brad Lander, saying, “don’t send out tweets, get your[self] out on the streets,” in response to his critique of Adams. 

Rather than be the thick-skinned mayor that Adams has likened himself to, he has proven himself that he can not take criticism. He has refused to listen to the real concerns of the people and instead works to protect his own ego by bringing down those who oppose him. According to him, “all my haters will become my waiters at the table of success.” 

Adams is one of the few mayors in New York City history to use religion as a tool for popularity. He’s gone as far as to say that he doesn’t support the separation of Church and State. Adams had previously called out the Supreme Court for removing mandated prayer in schools, and was scrutinized for hiring anti-gay marriage supporters into his administration. 

Adams has made an effort to appear as a more Christian leader in hopes of gaining support from the religious population. However, his focus on religion has led to him losing support from other groups. New Yorkers are starting to see the effects of his leadership and are upset about it. 

But then there are those who are working to improve the city’s current condition. 

Take for example Mr. Aponte who, despite being under-resourced, still does his best to run the Complaint Room, albeit very difficult and time consuming. He is doing his best to protect the people of New York from repeat offenders and dangerous criminals. 

The Adams issue has become severe enough that New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has had to step in and prevent Adams’s poor leadership from affecting other regions of the state. She prevented the mayor from pushing immigrants into Upstate New York, which was a sigh of relief for those living in New York’s suburbs. 

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, chief advisor to Eric Adams, proposed that the government must close the border, regroup, come up with a plan to redistribute immigrants across the country, then reopen. 

This would give New York breathing room and time to communicate with the rest of the country and come up with a better plan to deal with the immigrants. 

Once the immigrant crisis has been dealt with, or set to a sustainable level, the city can begin to redirect resources to deal with rising homelessness and distribute funding to other city organizations. 

With more resources available to charities and nonprofits, they would be able to work with the City department to comply with the Right-to-Shelter law and improve the lives of the less fortunate. 

What if Adams turns a blind-eye (again) and doesn’t accept that he is a poor leader? What will happen then? 

New Yorkers will have to be clear. Eric Adams is not living up to what he promised and he’s hurting the city.

Unfortunately, Mayor Adams has turned a blind eye to complaints. His method of defense: religion and name-calling.