By Max Corbett '25
The Bill de Blasio reign is over! After 8 years at the helm, he’s ending with an approval rating of 37 percent, a historic low. But what does a new mayor mean for NYC? What will be the short term and long term impacts of new leadership? The new mayor, Eric Adams, will forever change this city through many of his policies on education, crime, and the economy. If you want to know exactly how his policies will affect the city, keep reading.
Education :
Adams has some key educational policies that will greatly affect the educational landscape of NYC.
Adams is an advocate for creating more flexible learning options for all NYC public school students. These include the addition of a remote learning option for students who want it, which allows New York parents more of a say on when and how their child is educated. However, bringing a remote learning option into NYC public schools will also mean a vaccine mandate for all in-person students. This is so that all in-person students are more protected against Covid-19, and so that they’ll be able to have a more “normal” school experience.
Continuing with his goal to expand the options available to public school families and teachers, Adams is aiming to expand summer school programs. This means that school buildings will be open year-round to solve issues like the summer slide (which is when students lose academic skills/knowledge over summer break). Overall, parents will have more choices about their children’s education following Adams’ policies.
Crime:
Crime was voters' most important issue in the November 2021 election in which Adams got voted into power. This was due to a major rise in crime across NYC; according to the New York Times there were 500 homicides in 2020 compared with 319 in 2019. Even as the democratic candidate, Adams’ crime policy can be seen as slightly more “conservative” as compared to many other democrats in the primaries. However, he does plan on some reforms to the NYPD, which is typically a democratic standpoint, through holding police more accountable for their actions. Adams stated that if police “don’t respect the nobility of public protection, [he’s] going to remove [police officers] from [his] department in an expeditious fashion.” This policy is intended to incentivize all officers to serve their communities in a responsible way.
Despite these reforms, Adams is tough on crime, stating that “we are going to zero in on gang crime through precision policing and coordinate our gang units throughout the city so that we can go after those who are committing real crime ... [through] gun violence.” Clearly, Adams has a no-tolerance policy when it comes to crime. So while he does show that he’s willing to pursue some reforms, Adams still believes in the presence of a strong police force.
Economy:
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the usually bustling offices of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan were empty of life. Adams will attempt to stir life back into NYC with more “business-friendly” policies. A notable example of such policies is an increased public-private connection within the city. Adams is currently having meetings with high-profile executives over this policy now, in the hopes that NYC becomes more pro-enterprise.
This policy will also combat the unemployment rate in NYC, which is higher than most other US cities at around 10%. Reducing unemployment will help the city’s economy fully recover from the pandemic.
In his mission to boost economic recovery, Adams hopes to expand some major industries in NYC including life science, pharmaceutical companies and Green energy - which are companies focused on bringing our planet to a green future.
All of these industries show much potential for future growth. So, if these industries were to be established in NYC, it would help reduce unemployment and boost the economy, while also keeping many high earners in the city (which is helpful as these people pay the most in taxes and these tax dollars can be used to complete necessary reforms).
So, while it’s too early to tell if these proposed policies are good for New York City, there’s no doubt that soon-to-be Mayor Eric Adams will have a major impact on the future of our city.
Works Cited:
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