New York City has had a rough few years. It lost nearly four percent of its population during the pandemic. There was a historic crime surge, particularly violent crime. Buildings were empty as people continued to work from home. Pundits all over the world declared New York City “over.”
Into that breach, last year, stepped a new mayor: Eric Adams.
He’s the kid raised in a rat-infested tenement in Bushwick, beaten up by police as a teen, who later became a cop himself. He’s tough on crime, but also critical of police brutality. He’s the health nut who makes his own vegan ice cream, but who also likes to go out on the town. But above all else, he’s the mayor who’s tried-and-true New York City.
Adams was elected on the promise of not just bringing back New York, but of reviving an old kind of Democrat that today feels like an endangered species: a practical, personable, no-bullshit type of politician. As one congressman put it: “He’s an antidote to the party’s likeability problem.” More than a year in: has Mayor Adams lived up to the hype?
Today, has Mayor Adams fulfilled his promise to make the city safer? How will he address massive educational setbacks in public schools? Does New York City risk becoming like San Francisco? What does he really think of AOC? And is his brand of politics winnable nationally for the Democrats?
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Disappointed in this interview; not hard hitting at all. Adams comes across as highly political and Barri asks no hard questions. She never makes him uncomfortable. Wasted opportunity.
This was the most disappointing Honestly yet. Eric Adam’s talks like a politician and a NY politician at that. He didn’t offer anything new to the conversation outside of what we already know about NYC and it’s current state of crime, politics, etc. Bari typically has a way with getting her guests to open up and reveal their humanity, but Adam’s just sounds like every other NY Democrat.