NYC Mayor Adams outlines first budget proposal

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams outlined his priorities for the city's economic recovery post-pandemic on Wednesday.

In the wake of several deadly attacks by suspects with mental illness who are homeless, Adams says he is taking a surgical approach, specifically going after the mentally ill who are on the streets, including those in the subways.

"It was a big mistake to ignore street homelessness," Adams said. "Getting them the support they need, ending the era of tents and sleeping in the subway system."

Moreover, with COVID cases in decline, he is ordering COVID beds to be repurposed to receive psychiatric patients, who he says will be taken off the streets and out of the subways.

Adams has, in the past, voiced support for using Kendra's Law, which mandates outpatient treatment of individuals who are a threat to themselves or to others.

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During the same announcement, Adams said with 35,000 NYPD officers on the payroll, the city is redeploying the NYPD's manpower to take officers out of clerical positions to do police work, part of his plan for precision policing.

"You can't have hundreds of officers on clerical duties when all crime is up," Adams said. 

With the city's streets gripped with gun violence, the new administration is already re-establishing a plainclothes anti-gun unit.

The new budget seeks to employ more technology to fight crime, including facial recognition. Officials say they fully realize New York's economic survival is tied to making the city safe again.

With Albany unwilling to alter the bail reform law in any way, city hall says it is moving forward with its other strategies to attack violent crime.