New York City Mayor Eric Adams was defiant in his message that he was trying to uphold the safety of all New Yorkers, despite losing a battle with the City Council Tuesday.
As Adams sees his approval ratings plummet amid a series of negative headlines, he was dealt another blow yesterday as the City Council voted to override his vetoes on a pair of criminal justice reform bills. But Adams, a former police captain who ran on a platform for public safety, said he’s hardly concerned with how the override will impact his reelection campaign in 2025.
“This is not about reelection, this is about protection,” Adams said Tuesday morning before the Council voted on the overrides. “I don’t want innocent people harmed in this city."
Scott Stringer, the former Comptroller and one of Adams’ opponents in 2021, has already formed an exploratory committee and began raising funds for a primary challenge next year.
“Public safety is my life's work, and I’m seeing all that we’ve tried to build, the relationships with police and community, all that we’ve tried to bring down crime, and the success that we’ve shown, that is what you're seeing,” the mayor said.
Indeed, one of Adams’ favorite slogans to describe his administration’s work has been “Jobs are up, crime is down.” But the City Council has painted the mayor as out of touch with the city’s desire to see criminal justice reform.
“Today we are standing together as a united front: Council members, advocates and directly impacted families, to send a clear message that New Yorkers need and deserve transparency, and that as a city we can and will do better,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said during a rally at City Hall on Tuesday morning.
The Council voted 42-9 to override the mayor’s vetoes of the bills, the first of which will require police officers to record the race, gender and age of most people they stop for questioning. The second will restrict the use of solitary confinement in the city’s jails.
Adams argued that the two bills represent the city “going backwards” in building stronger relationships between police and the community, which was a key tenet of his 2021 campaign. Despite the vetoes, Adams believes his message will resonate with voters again.
“If you want to know the platform I’m going to use for my reelection, go see the platform I ran on for my election,” Adams said. “It’s the same thing: Public safety. Rebuilding our economy. Invest in working-class people. There’s no magic here. There’s no sleight of hands. I’m the same guy that I’ve been when I took the oath of office as a police officer.”
