New York: Democrat Eric Adams has been elected New York City mayor, cruising to victory against Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday.
Adams, a former New York City police captain and the Brooklyn borough president, will become the second Black mayor of the nation’s most populous city. David Dinkins, who served from 1990 to 1993, was the first.
“Tonight, New York has chosen one of you — one of our own. I am you. I am you,” Adams told a jubilant crowd at his victory party at a hotel in his hometown borough of Brooklyn. “After years of praying and hoping and struggling and working, we are headed to City Hall.”
After he finished speaking, Adams was joined onstage by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who pledged “a whole new era of cooperation” between the state in the city, after eight years in which the former governor, Andrew Cuomo, was constantly at odds with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“We will fight for you, not fight each other anymore,” she said.
Adams brings a nuanced perspective on policing and crime, drawing on his experiences as a former police captain. He rejected the progressive mantra of “defund the police,” and said he was proud of his time in the department.
Speaking to the media, he re-emphasized his campaign commitment to improving public safety and “getting stuff done”. Steering a damaged city through its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will also be his priority.
His predecessor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat, was limited by law to two terms.
