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NYC Mayor Adams delivers State of the City address
NYC Mayor Eric Adams delivered his State of the City on Thursday afternoon. He mostly focused on affordability and safety. FOX 5 NY’s Morgan McKay has the details.
NEW YORK CITY - NYC Mayor Eric Adams delivered his State of the City address from Manhattan's Apollo Theater.
Despite facing possible criminal charges, Adams made his case for another term Thursday, insisting that "no one will fight harder" for New York City.
Adams discussed his administration's achievements over the past three years, the current state of the city and how the administration will continue to make the city even safer and more affordable for working-class families.
It was his last state of the city address of at least his first term - Adams outlined his 2025 agenda while also using it as an opportunity to lay out his campaign strategy for his re-election bid with the primary just 6 months away.
What did Adams discuss at the State of the City address?
"How can we make sure that the greatest city in the world is also the greatest place to raise a family? That starts with keeping families safe," Adams said.
When it comes to public safety, Adams is launching a new homeless outreach initiative to help remove people living on the streets and subways.
Adams is also looking to Albany to make changes to the reforms made to the state’s discovery laws in 2019- and it’s a fight also being led by State Attorney General Letitia James.
"I'm working with a number of district attorneys. A significant number of their cases have been dismissed as a result of their inability to meet discovery obligations," James said.
Adams also unveiled what he is calling the Manhattan plan that will create 100,000 new homes in Manhattan over the next decade. It is the equivalent to creating a brand new Upper West Side neighborhood.
"Businesses are looking at the difficulty of getting affordable housing for their employees. Number one reason for taking jobs out of New York. So very important," Kathryn Wylde, Partnership for New York said.
Adams also said the city is launching a new program to connect soon-to-be parents applying for shelter with services that help people find permanent housing before their child is born.
"No child should ever be born in our shelter system," Adams said.
Adams said under Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom's leadership the city has been able to move 8,000 people from the subways into shelters.
Was New York City crime up or down in 2024?
On the subway, felony assaults were up 65% from 2019 to 2024, according to the MTA. In 2019, 374 felony assaults were reported, while in 2024, 579 were reported.
Adams unveiled "The Manhattan Plan", which will create 100,000 new homes in the city and reach a total of a million homes in the next decade.
Again, Adams proposed the "Axe the Tax", which would eliminate income taxes "for working-class families making 150% of the federal poverty line or less." "Axe the Tax" would have to be approved by Albany.
Adams is now calling on Albany to pass the "Supportive Interventions Act".
"We have seen the tragic, tragic consequences when severe mental health illnesses on our streets and subways go unchecked," Adams said.
"Thanks to our efforts, New York City is not only back; we are better than ever," Adams said. "But as we look to the future, we know there is even more we can do to uplift working-class families across the five boroughs, protect our streets and subways, tackle the cost of rent, create more housing, and put even more money back into New Yorkers' pockets."
National Day of Mourning
Also today, a national Day of Mourning is in place in honor of former President Jimmy Carter's official state funeral at Washington National Cathedral.
This means the embattled mayor addressed the state of America’s most populous city – just as the nation hit pause to honor the late President Jimmy Carter with a state funeral.
"On Jan. 9, at the historic Apollo, we'll present our vision for an even safer and more affordable New York City in both 2025 and in the decades to come," Adams said in a statement.
President Joe Biden declared the National Day of Mourning shortly after Carter’s passing at the age of 100 in Plains, Georgia. In his proclamation, Biden described Carter as a "man of character, courage, and compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as one of the most influential statesmen in our history."