The new mayor of the city of New York, Eric AdamsHe assured on Saturday that he will guide the largest city in the United States out of the pandemic relying on the resistance of its people and promised a government that works better, even if it is not radically different.
Hours after being sworn in in Times Square, as the city ushered in the New Year, Adams used his swearing-in speech to promise more efficiency, invoke New Yorkers’ reputation for strength, and called on the city of 9 million residents to make their resolution to the new year that their lives are not controlled by the pandemic.
“Getting vaccinated is not letting the crisis control you,” Adams said at City Hall. “Enjoy a show on Broadway. Send your children to school. Go back to the office. Those are declarations of confidence that our city is ours ”.
Adams, 61, faces the immense challenge of pulling the city out of the pandemic. He takes office as the city records a record number of cases of COVID-19 variant driven omicron.
Though he has vowed to keep the city open and prevent a return from lockdowns, he is taking over the reins of a city that has seen subway lines, restaurants and even urgent care centers temporarily closed due to staff shortages caused by coronavirus cases.
In his speech Saturday, Adams added that he was taking a “radically practical” approach to improving city governance, including not only “big plans and proposals,” but also “eliminating waste and eliminating inefficiencies.”
Last night, with the confetti still flying over Times Square, Adams recited the oath of office. Judge Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix of the state Supreme Court appellate division took Adams’s oath, which placed one hand on a family bible and with the other held a picture of her mother, Dorothy, who died in 2020. .
Adams was a former New York City Police Captain and President of the Brooklyn Borough and has a more moderate and business-focused stance than his predecessor, Bill de BlasioBut he describes himself as a down-to-earth and forward-thinking mayor who will “get things done.”
He is the city’s 110th alderman and the second black after David Dinkins, who served from 1990 to 1993.
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