In his four years in City Hall, Eric Adams has definitely left his mark on New York City. 

“I’m an unusual mayor,” he said.

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Eric Adams took office as the city was coming out of the pandemic and he took the reins with a focus on public safety 

  • The 110th mayor’s four-year term was marked by the migrant crisis, fiscal management, a federal indictment and an uphill reelection bid 

  • Adams’ future remains a mystery with him touting possible options of going to school, traveling and writing a book 

From being sworn in as the city was coming out of the pandemic to being the city’s second Black mayor, Adams came into City Hall with a lot of style.

“When the mayor has swagger, the city has swagger,” said the 110th mayor at a school in the Bronx at the beginning of 2022.  

Hailed as the public safety mayor, Adams immediately got to work. 

Within the first eight months, Adams announced initiatives for tackling subway safety, street homelessness, illegal motorbikes and guns, vehicles with fake plates and recidivist criminal offenders. 

He also launched his most controversial public safety push: involuntary removals. 

“It is not acceptable to us to clearly see someone who needs help,” Adams said in November 2022. 

By year two, Adams was deep into the migrant crisis that saw a surge of immigrants coming to the city daily.

Initially the mayor was welcoming. 

“There is a reason the Statue of Liberty sits in our harbor because we say welcome those who come here,” Adams said in the beginning of 2023.  

But by the fall, the mayor was frustrated by a lack of help from then-President Joe Biden after having gone multiple times to Washington, D.C. to plead for assistance. 

“I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City — destroy New York City,” he said in September 2023.  

Adams closed out his second year under the microscope of federal authorities who were investigating his 2021 campaign fundraising practices. 

“I would be shocked if someone states that our campaign coordinated in illegal behavior,” Adams said in the fall of 2023.  

The theme of year three was fiscal management. 

Adams started the year by announcing a slew of budget restorations and cancellations to the city’s services. 

“If we had to do the third round, it would impact garbage pickup. I it would impact services to our older adults, it would impact libraries,” he said in an interview with WABC in January 2024.  

But the good news only lasted so long, in September 2024 Adams became the first sitting mayor in the city’s modern history to be indicted. 

“I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit. If I’m charged I know I’m innocent,” he said in a video message in September 2024.

The indictment was the culmination of weeks of federal activity circling the mayor and his inner circle that included multiple raids and phone seizures of top officials. He was charged with illegally taking gifts from the Turkish government and creating a straw donor scheme that helped his 2021 campaign.

By his final year, Adams was fighting for his political future.  

The case was dismissed by the Trump Justice Department but not without allegations of a quid-pro-quo relationship with the president, who took office shortly before Adams was set to go to trial. 

Adams went into his reelection campaign amid a record low approval rating. 

“I told you in the beginning, this was going to be the most interesting political campaign in the history of the city,” Adams said in June. 

Despite his best efforts, Adams seemed destined to be a one-term mayor. 

But his administration will be known not just for its challenging moments but also its unique ones. 

Like the flag raisings for countries across the globe. 

“I have the flag with me always,” Adams said in November 2023.  

“We know New York City is the Zagreb of America,” he said in May 2023. 

Or Adams’ love-hate relationship with the media. 

“You keep referring to my appearance. You took the time to look nice,” said the mayor in an interview with Ziwe in October.  

“You’re one of the most dark writers in the city. And you’re own personal vendetta. Your sickness of over sexualizing a Black man,” Adams said the same month.  

And even the odd one-liners. 

“I mean, we can talk about erectile dysfunction but not clitoris stimulation,” Adams said in January 2023. 

“This is a place where you can wake up and experience everything from a plane crashing into our trade center to a person celebrating a new business that is opening,” he said in a PIX 11 interview in December 2023. 

“Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and give myself the finger,” Adams said in 2023.  

As for what’s to come next, Adams told NY1 in an interview, “I’m excited about the future. I’m excited about spending time with family, traveling and just enjoying friends.”