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The Sad Twilight of
Mayor Eric Adams’ Career
Mayor Eric Adams’ Career
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| Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams |
The way New Yorkers are tearing down Mayor Eric Adams in his final chapter is painful to watch—not because criticism is unwarranted, but because the reckoning feels stripped of memory, nuance, and context.
I remember Eric Adams long before City Hall. I remember him as a street activist fighting police brutality at a time when that work came with real danger. He wasn’t just challenged by the police department—he was threatened by it. He was also threatened by street hustlers and violent actors who didn’t appreciate us organizing to stop bloodshed in our own neighborhoods through groups like the Black United Front.
Adams didn’t just protest the system—he challenged us to change it. When he argued that more of us should join the police department to reform it from within, many dismissed the idea. Yet that thinking gave birth to Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, an organization rooted in the belief that accountability and representation could coexist.
To see someone who once marched with us become mayor of the largest city in the United States—and arguably the world—was genuinely inspiring. That arc mattered.
Which is why the current disdain, especially from within our own community, feels so heavy.
Mayor Adams was far from perfect. No serious leader is.
But it is dishonest to erase the tangible outcomes of his administration. Under his leadership, New York City saw a significant expansion of affordable housing—housing that thousands of New Yorkers are applying for right now. Our libraries and the MTA underwent long-overdue technological upgrades. His administration elevated Black women into leadership roles at levels we had rarely, if ever, seen before—including within law enforcement itself.
But it is dishonest to erase the tangible outcomes of his administration. Under his leadership, New York City saw a significant expansion of affordable housing—housing that thousands of New Yorkers are applying for right now. Our libraries and the MTA underwent long-overdue technological upgrades. His administration elevated Black women into leadership roles at levels we had rarely, if ever, seen before—including within law enforcement itself.
