Democrat Eric Adams defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa to become New York City’s next mayor, according to a projection from The Associated Press.
Adams, the current Brooklyn Borough president and former police captain, was considered the overwhelming favorite to win the mayoral race after emerging victorious in the Democratic primary earlier this year. He will replace Mayor Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat, in January.
When taking office, he will be faced with choices about whether to continue, or expand, vaccine mandates put in place by de Blasio, a Democrat who was limited by law to two terms. As a candidate, Adams referenced his working-class roots and being raised with five siblings by a single mother who cleaned houses. He described carrying a garbage bag of clothes to school out of fear his family would be evicted.
Adams has said he supports de Blasio’s vaccine mandate for New York City, including for New York City Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other city workers.
During the Democratic primary, in a bid to fend off more progressive candidates, Adams cast himself as a moderate who opposes the “defund the police” movement and said he'd bring back the use of stop-and-frisk in some cases as well as reviving the NYPD’s anti-gun task force that was disbanded under de Blasio.
Other than seeking to strengthen public safety, Adams said he plans to make New York City more welcoming to businesses—after 18 months of pandemic-induced lockdowns.
“We have been defined as a business-enemy city instead of a business-friendly city,” he told Bloomberg in September.
After de Blasio recently announced a move to phase out the city’s Gifted and Talented program, Adams last week told media outlets he would bring it back.
Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol four decades ago, ran a campaign punctuated by his signature red beret, part of the Guardian Angels uniform.
Sliwa first became a familiar New York figure when he founded the Guardian Angels in 1979. He later became a talk-radio host and survived an attempted mob hit incited by his radio commentary.
Sliwa has a penchant for staging stunts and holding news conferences at day-old crime scenes to highlight what he portrays as a city in decline, and he’s also become known for living with more than a dozen rescue cats in his very small apartment with his wife.
