As he kicks off a year that could see him jailed or booted from City Hall, and quite possibly both, Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday laid out an agenda for 2025 that doubled as a platform for his uphill re-election campaign.
In his fourth State of the City address, Adams laid out plans that respond to the issues that have defined his first term: public safety and New York’s affordability crisis, which has taken a particular toll on families. The mayor announced a new proposal, City of Yes for Families, that will use zoning and rule changes to construct more family-sized homes and build more housing near schools, playgrounds, libraries and grocery stores — all in hopes of preventing families from being forced to decamp to the suburbs.
As part of the same initiative, Adams set a sparsely defined goal of building 100,000 new homes in Manhattan over 10 years — a dramatic jump from the borough’s current total of about 900,000, which will rely in part on the pending rezoning of Midtown South that promises nearly 10,000 units.
And, acknowledging the recent spate of subway violence that has unsettled the city, the mayor pledged to spend $650 million to address homelessness and mental health — including opening a new facility to treat unhoused people with serious mental illnesses and creating 900 new beds in Safe Haven shelters that have low thresholds for admission.
“Our city must go further to get you the health care and housing you need, the parks and playgrounds you deserve, the education that sets your child up for success, and the chance to make the best possible life for yourself and your family,” Adams said from the stage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Housing remained at the center of Adams’ remarks on Thursday. Building on an initiative last year that began planning for 26 housing developments on 24 city-owned sites, Adams said he would add to that list in 2025: starting with a plan to build 800 units of mixed-income housing on the site of the existing Bloomingdale branch of the New York Public Library on the Upper West Side.
The city will also propose a 2,000-unit project at 100 Gold St. in the Financial District — presently the site of a city-owned office building — and additional developments at 395 Flatbush Ave. in Downtown Brooklyn, the Coney Island Waterfront, and the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island. The projects on publicly-owned land will amount to some 8,700 units, City Hall said.
Adams used the speech to reiterate other proposals he has made in recent weeks, including a populist plan to end city income taxes for some low-earning households that would require state approval. Another Adams priority in Albany will be the Supportive Interventions Act, which will increase the number of practitioners able to issue orders of involuntary treatment.
Adams’ tone-setting speech came three months before he is set to go on trial in his federal corruption case, and five months before the June 2025 mayoral primary election in which he faces stiff competition. Several of those more left-leaning rivals were in the audience Thursday as Adams sought to cast himself as the candidate most focused on working-class issues.
“When others wanted to defund the police, we defended them,” he said.
His administration packed the historic venue with many of the key groups that helped put him in office in 2021 and could make or break his re-election bid, including business leaders and labor unions like the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and SEIU 32BJ. The self-described blue-collar mayor has delivered all four of his annual addresses in locations outside of New York’s traditional Manhattan power centers, instead choosing neighborhoods where his political base lies: the Kings Theatre in Flatbush, the Queens Theatre in Flushing, Hostos Community College in the South Bronx and now the Apollo.
Uphill climb
Adams enters 2025 with some wins under his belt, including the passage of his City of Yes housing plan that promises 82,000 new homes over 15 years. Crime, while slightly elevated over the course of his mayoralty, declined last year, and violent crime in particular has fallen significantly in recent months. The mayor reminded his audience that he entered office in 2022 at a precarious moment in the wake of the pandemic, and suggested that he deserved another term to build on the progress.
“Despite all we have accomplished, I won’t stand here and try to tell you our work is complete,” he said. “Now is the time for renewed dedication and continued [action], because no matter what challenges we face, I promise you this: No one will fight harder for your family than I will.”
Adams’ obstacles remain daunting: His approval ratings have been dismal, and prosecutors continue to scrutinize some of the high-level aides that he pushed out following months of turmoil.
Despite prominent efforts to tackle subway crime and a statistical decline in offenses, high-profile attacks have continued — including the December immolation killing of a woman at Coney Island. Adams on Thursday reiterated a commitment to deploy hundreds of additional officers into the transit system.
“We all know safety is about more than just crime stats — it is about being comfortable riding the subway, knowing you can send your kid to play in the park, and feeling safe walking home at night,” Adams said Thursday. “People need to be safe, and they need to feel safe.”
And some of the commitments Adams announced Thursday are no sure bets. The unspecified new zoning changes proposed as part of City of Yes for Families will require signoff from the City Council, which may be in no rush to help after grueling negotiations on the first City of Yes housing plan.
Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn state senator who is among the people challenging Adams for re-election, wrote on social media Thursday that Adams’ latest proposals were too little, too late.
“Stop telling us the city is safer than ever when New Yorkers are nervous to get on the subway. Stop claiming our city is more livable when no one can find an apartment,” Myrie said. “Eric Adams can keep calling mediocrity success — but no one is buying it.”
