As a school bell rang on a recent March afternoon, students at Bayside High School in Queens began to descend the building’s main staircase, which has not changed much since two City Hall characters attended the school together in the late 1970s.
The first is Eric Adams, the incumbent mayor who lived with undiagnosed dyslexia while at Bayside and struggled in school — and who is currently facing corruption charges while seeking re-election in a crowded mayoral primary in June.
Mayor Eric Adams shared his ID from Bayside High School during a video played during his State of the City address. Credit: Screengrab via Mayor Eric Adams/Instagram
The second is Adrienne Adams, speaker of the City Council and a former Bayside cheerleader and gospel choir founder, who on Wednesday night announced her run against her former classmate.
The fact that the local election this summer will feature two high-profile Bayside High alums named Adams, however, was news to many students THE CITY spoke to there, including seniors now eligible to vote for the first time.
The local primary has, after all, generally yielded low turnouts across the city in past years, and turnout among 18 year olds has always been abysmal.
Bayside High School senior Richard Surprise spoke about the mayoral election, March 4, 2025. Credit: Haidee Chu/THE CITY
“Imma be completely 100% honest with you, I have no idea. I have no information — actually, I just hear names,” Richard Surprise, a senior who is turning 18 in April, said.
Of the students who spoke to THE CITY at dismissal time this week, some knew Mayor Adams while only a few had heard of Speaker Adams.
Even fewer knew of the gamut of other contenders in the ranked-choice primary.
“What does that mean?” one student posed when asked about the rank-five voting method. “When is the election?” another asked. A third mistakenly assumed Adrienne Adams was Eric Adams’ sister (they are not related), while several others assumed that she was a man named “Adrian.”
Surprise, for one, said he hasn’t kept up much with politics since his government class in sophomore year. Local politics, he said, has never made for popular casual conversations among his peers anyway.
“I should inform myself, but I’m not gonna go out of my way to do that,” he added.
But Surprise did know one thing about the election — also related to a Queens native: “Isn’t Cuomo running again or something like that?” he asked, referring to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “It wasn’t bad when he was a governor or something. It was cool, so I mean, if he runs for mayor maybe he could win, because he has more experience.”
Bayside High School student Xavier Greene spoke about the mayoral election, March 4, 2025. Credit: Haidee Chu/THE CITY
Xavier Greene, a senior who was hanging out with Surprise at a park across the street from the school, let out a side-eyed glance upon hearing Cuomo’s name.
“I just don’t want — wait, what’s Mayor Adams’ first name?” said Greene, who is turning 18 in May. “Oh yes, Eric! I don’t want Eric. He didn’t do nothing for us. He came to visit and he just walked around. He didn’t do nothing.”
Another Bayside senior, however, shared a different impression of the mayor while heading toward a bus stop.
“I think he cares about the school. Like, he’s funding the field for the football team and everything,” said Stephen DiFazio, referencing a $3.5 million package from the city to renovate the school’s 2.69-acre multi-purpose athletic field — $2 million of which was funded by the mayor’s office and $150,000 from the Speaker.
“I think that he does care about the city,” DiFazio added. “I think he has his flaws, but he always tries.”
‘A Lot of Embezzlement or Something’
Ehis Odua, also a senior, said he doesn’t know much about Eric Adams’ policies but recalled witnessing the mayor doing exercises in the gym when he visited his alma mater about two years ago.
“That was pretty funny and pretty cool,” Odua said.
The 18-year-old added he is often influenced by his parents’ political views, but is coming to opinions of his own.
“I want to make sure that when I go to school and take the bus, that I feel safe, or that my parents are able to afford groceries,” he said.
Odua said he plans on voting for Eric Adams in the mayor’s race “as of now” but added that he hasn’t heard much about the candidates.
Several feet away, a group of friends who were hanging out by the school gate were a little more skeptical about the mayor, having also formed some opinions based on posts on social media.
Bayside High School student Izzy Matles spoke about the mayoral election, March 4, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
“The only thing that I’ve heard is that Eric Adams is corrupt, and I’ve heard he’s done a lot of embezzlement or something — I haven’t heard anything good,” said Izzy Matles, who learned from a history teacher that she could participate in a mayoral election now that she’s 18 years old.
Haley Walton, who is turning 18 in August so isn’t eligible to vote in the primary, chimed in: “I also heard that he just wasn’t acting like a mayor — like whenever he was outside doing public things, he’s like in a club, popping bottles — like babe, you’re mayor, what’s going on?”
While many in the group have yet to make up their mind about the primary, many noted immigration as a top issue they’d consider.
Senior and Glen Oaks resident Mila Andric, for one, noted her concerns while living near the Creedmoor tent shelter over the last year and a half.
“When I take the bus, it’s like a million of them on the bus,” she said, referring to migrants staying at Creedmoor. “And some of them are fine, and some of them are — when you’re the only teenage girl back there, it’s really weird.”
Matles, for her part, said that the influx of migrants starting her sophomore year has exacerbated overcrowding inside Bayside.
“Our school is already overpopulated, and getting more students, it really made the hallways more crowded.”
Bayside High School senior Malak Belkhatir spoke about the mayoral election, March 4, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
Malak Belkhatir, whose family is from Morocco, dissented: “I don’t know about all that immigration stuff, because I’m an immigrant.”
She continued: “I was helping out in the ESL class, and one of my favorite students got deported. I feel bad for them because a lot of people I know have parents that are immigrants, so I’m more lenient.”
Belkhatir recalled the time when she witnessed an immigrant vendor being arrested in Flushing, where she lives, while getting off the bus from school.
“The cop was just manhandling her. She was just selling mangoes and strawberries,” she said. “I think they’re not helping, and it’s just a power play for them. Like, I know there’s so many other things they could do over there.”
Bayside High School student Kuno Callender spoke about the mayoral election, March 4, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
“I don’t feel any safer with more cops — that’s a huge problem,” added Kuno Callender, 18, while noting safety in public transit as a top issue for him while considering a mayoral candidate. “We need more community-based stuff.”
Asked whether they plan on voting in the primary race in June, though, the group returned an overlapping cacophony of responses: “Um, probably not, let’s be honest,” one said.
“Sure?” responded another.
“Honestly, yeah,” a third said, while a fourth said: “I’m 18 — why not?”
A fifth voice emerged as the others quieted down: “It depends on whether they look good or not — whether what they’re providing is good or not.”
He elaborated: “Someone who, you know, gives back to the community.”
Our nonprofit newsroom relies on donations from readers to sustain our local reporting and keep it free for all New Yorkers. Donate to THE CITY today.
The post For New Voters at the Alma Mater of Adams and Adams, the Mayoral Primary Is Mostly an Afterthought appeared first on THE CITY – NYC News.
