Eric Adams: Can New York’s mayor-in-waiting stop the Big Apple’s rot?

In May, Davell Gardner, a one-year-old infant, was killed when he was hit by a stray bullet in Brooklyn. In June, a funeral took place in Queens for Justin Wallace, a 10-year-old boy who was shot and killed inside a relative’s home during a party. On the day of the funeral, over in the Bronx, a driver ploughed into a family of six on East 170th street. The driver was trapped in the vehicle when passers-by surrounded him in an attempt to subdue him until the police arrived. He only got away when an armed gunman showed up, fired his weapon into the air and scared the crowd. 

Gun violence is hardly unusual in New York. The city recorded 1,531 shootings in 2020 – a 97 per cent increase from the previous year. Unfortunately, events like these are a daily occurrence in New York, a city where homicide is rising, where 50,000 people sleep rough every night and where the elimination of cash bail has helped fuel a rise in racially motivated attacks against the Jewish-American community.

Unsurprisingly, many residents have had enough. Due to ever-increasing crime and poor governance, there has been a steady stream of New Yorkers leaving the city. Pre-pandemic, 2,600 were shipping out each week – more than any other US city.

It’s not just people that are leaving. The financial sector is packing up and heading for a sunnier, less regulated environment. The city’s cripplingly high tax rates have forced many multi-million-dollar asset management firms to relocate. The preferred option for many is Florida. The absence of a state income tax is what drew Leon Cooperman. Speaking about the move, the CEO of Goldman Sachs said “I suspect Florida will soon rival New York as a finance hub,” citing the heavy-handed “Tax and Spend” policies of New York.

This combination of high taxes, increasing crime and poor governance has left many residents looking to the Mayor. The current Mayor, Bill De Blasio seems more content with placating public sector unions, wasting money on pointless programmes and supporting radical protests. Worst of all is his “progressive agenda” when it comes to law enforcement. It was De Blasio who pushed to end cash bail. Under his tenure homicide rose 41 per cent last year. 

It’s no wonder that Democrats get a bad name when it comes to maintaining law and order. According to FBI data, when it comes to violent crime, of the top ten cities with over 100,000 people, all are Democrat-run.

It all makes for a city desperately in need of reform. De Blasio’s mayoral term is in its last year and it’s time for a more moderate candidate to come forward. Enter Eric Adams. After winning the Democratic primary, Adams looks likely to win the mayoral election in November. The 60-year-old is a centrist. He opposed the “defund the police” movement, telling his supporters “If black lives really matter, it can’t only be against police abuse. It has to be against the violence that’s ripping apart our communities.” 

Even though black people only make up a quarter of New York city’s population, they account for 71 per cent of shooting victims. Across the United States, 89 per cent of black victims were killed by a fellow black person. Overall, almost 7,500 black lives were lost to homicide across the US in 2019.

And if anyone is going to know these uncomfortable facts it’s Adams – the prospective mayor is a 22-year veteran of the police department. 

The former police chief has also promised to be “tough on crime”. It brings to mind one former mayor of New York – Rudolph Giuliani. Under Giuliani in the ‘90s, the city clawed its way back from the apocalyptic nightmare it found itself in in the ‘70s and ‘80s – when it was affectionately known as “fear city”. Giuliani cleaned up the city by adopting a “broken windows” policy, which held that small, visible crimes like vandalism and anti-social behaviour foster an environment that encourages more serious crime. He targeted low level crimes, promoted traditional family values and reinvigorated rundown neighbourhoods. The crime rate dropped significantly and he was widely praised. If Adams’ more moderate approach can echo that of Giuliani, perhaps New York can be taken off life support.  

Under De Blasio, New Yorkers may not have witnessed a return to the ‘70s and ‘80s, but his progressive, softer approach to law and order has left the Big Apple rotting. 

Can Adams stop the city heading towards lawlessness? We will have to wait and see. But anything has to be better than de Blasio, who once quoted Machiavelli: “Leaders need to be loved or feared.” I’ll let New Yorkers decide that for themselves. But I have a feeling his legacy won’t feature either.