In potential lead up to a mayoral run, NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams highlights affordability, public safety
In her final State of the City speech as council speaker, Adrienne Adams hinted at a potential mayoral run and highlighted her work on issues high on voters' priority lists — affordability and public safety.
Adams, who is in her fourth year as leader of the legislative body, has not yet overtly said she'll run for mayor, but she hasn't ruled it out and is expected to announce a run in the coming days.
She has already filed a fundraising committee with the New York City Campaign Finance Board and participated in a screening to gain the endorsement of 32BJ, the powerful service workers union.
During her speech Tuesday, Adams took direct shots against Mayor Eric Adams and openly slammed his relationship with President Donald Trump. Though they share the same name, the speaker and mayor are not related.
'While we may not have the same resources as the mayoral administration, we have been creative in producing solutions to our city's biggest challenges — from maternal mortality to child poverty,' she said. 'These solutions are models that can be scaled for greater impact.'
'Why lead if your default is to insist that something is too hard, or that we just can't do it?' she continued. 'Why not try to help New Yorkers?'
Adams announced a set of improvements to reduce bureaucratic obstacles that prevent access to CityFHEPS housing vouchers. The mayor has blocked expanding the program due to its projected cost.
The Council speaker also signaled she wants to prioritize expanding the Fair Fares program, which reduces subway fares for more than 360,000 New Yorkers, permanently fund the CUNY Reconnect program to help re-enroll students and increase funding for a childcare voucher.
The speaker called out the mayor for not doing enough to expand eligibility for housing vouchers. But her most pointed criticism was directed at the mayor's proposed $58.3 million cut to library funding and funding for parks.
'This Council will always defend our libraries,' she said. 'When libraries were on the chopping block during the last budget cycle, we mobilized to secure their restoration.'
The speaker announced a plan to add seven days of service at ten more branches and said she would continue pushing to restore funding to parks until it reaches almost one percent of the city's budget, calling green spaces 'a lifeline to New Yorkers.'
On public safety, she emphasized helping survivors of violent crime and closing Rikers Island, but did not mention plans to alter policing or address the New York Police Department's staffing issues. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced his own mayoral run over the weekend and is leading the field in most polls, pledged to expand the number of police officers if elected. The mayor has increased police presence on the subways. Both of them — and the speaker, if she decides to run — will be competing to win over Black voters, who represent a significant portion of their respective bases.
The speaker noted during her speech that people have described her as a moderate, though she did not outright say whether she has applied that term to herself. Still, the reference is a possible allusion to how she might position herself during a mayoral campaign.
'Throughout my time in office, I've been labeled as a 'moderate' in people's attempt to make sense of who I am,' she said. 'But my focus has always been public service, which has no political label.'
The speaker made sure to include Trump in her speech. And unlike Mayor Adams, who has cozied up to the president as his Justice Department moved to drop corruption charges against him, the speaker had harsh words for the Republican leader.
'In his quest for power, Trump is willing to burn everything in his way. But a house built on ashes will fall,' she said. 'The Trump administration's cruel crusade against immigrant families, within a nation of immigrants, is threatening our democratic values.'
She noted that the Council has backed educational initiatives and legal services to counteract policies perceived by many as anti-immigrant.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended the speech, said he supported the speaker running for mayor.
'I'm really, really excited about the entrance of Adrienne Adams,' he said. 'It's what we need right now, so we'll wait and see.'
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