NYC Mayor Adams addresses safety, affordability in State of the City speech

Josephine Stratman and Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News on Jan 9, 2025

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NEW YORK — In his fourth State of the City speech, Mayor Eric Adams vowed he’d double down on affordability and public safety during the remainder of his term — and a possible second.

Adams used the speech, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, to state his case for New Yorkers as he faces a field of mayoral challengers and legal headwinds. The mayor is slated to stand trial in April on federal corruption charges as he heads into a June primary.

The mayor, who has seen a number of top advisors resign in recent months after being ensnared in various corruption investigations, kicked off his speech with by thanking his deputy mayors and senior officials.

“The hardest job in politics is working for Eric Adams,” the mayor said, nodding to his aides.

The mayor announced a slate of ambitious initiatives addressing street homelessness and housing along with emphasizing his record on public safety and the “City of Yes” zoning plan.

Ahead of the mayor’s speech, dozens of members of the NYPD sergeants union gathered outside The Apollo to protest what they view as the Adams administration’s refusal to address pay disparities that leave them earning less than some of the officers they supervise.

Also outside the theater was a smaller contingent of anti-Adams protesters from the “Close Rikers” coalition and Make the Road, an immigrant advocacy group. Adams has faced increasingly heated criticism from Close Rikers activists in recent months, amid growing doubt over the feasibility of the city’s plan to shutter the infamous island jail by 2027.

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