Adams-Sliwa Mayoral Race Pits Differing NYC Visions

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio's legacy looms over the race between Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa to replace him.

De Blasio nears the end of his eight years at Gracie Mansion as New York's most unpopular politician. Many of his one-time supporters lambaste him for failing to close the book on New York City's "tale of two cities" and other promises.

And his bitter enemies — police unions, conservatives, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and more — feel more justified than ever in their assessment of him as a feckless disaster.

De Blasio's critics found their avatar in Curtis Sliwa, the Republican mayoral nominee who didn't hesitate to give the mayor an "F" grade during a recent debate.

Even Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee, has largely distanced himself from de Blasio. Yet, when asked to assess the mayor, Adams gave him a "B+" grade — much to Sliwa's disbelief.

"He's been a disaster and you've been his partner, you've been his teammate," Sliwa said.

The Nov. 2 election will give New Yorkers their first new mayor in eight years.

De Blasio clearly sees Adams as his torchbearer.

After Adams won a hard-fought Democratic primary, de Blasio noted a similar coalition of working-class voters to those who thrust him into office clinched Adams' victory.

"I think Eric Adams is going to build upon so much of what we've tried to do here," de Blasio said last week. "And I'm very, very proud of some of the things we've done to make this a city that's more fair and inclusive for everyone. I think Eric's going to be able to take it to the next level and I'm excited about that."

Adams has broadly praised, among other things, de Blasio's focus on early childhood education, expansions of bike lanes and other traffic safety measures, making outdoor dining permanent and closing Rikers Island.

Where Adams differs is often a matter of degree.

Adams, for example, favors imposing a coronavirus vaccine mandate on public school students. De Blasio has strongly advocated for similar mandates, but drew the line at one for children.

Policing is another area where the difference between Adams and de Blasio is arguably less vast than it seems. Adams spent much of his campaign highlighting crime and public safety concerns — while de Blasio chalked them up as temporary problems stemming from pandemic-related disruptions.

Yet Adams, a former NYPD captain, like de Blasio also tends to focus on community-based and education-related solutions to crime rather than increased police presence.

"If we don't educate, you incarcerate," he has said repeatedly.

But Adams has pushed for tough NYPD measures such as a limited return of "stop-and-frisk" and bringing back a modified version of a controversial plainclothes anti-crime squad. Both are seemingly at odds with de Blasio's stances, and more in line with Sliwa's hard-line stance on public safety.

Sliwa and Adams, for all their differences, have focused strongly on public safety.

But Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels, has made it a campaign plank that the NYPD needs to be expanded. While Adams isn't favored by those who cry "defund the police," his stated stances are more reform-oriented than Sliwa's.

"The police are always getting criticized," Sliwa said. "I remember in that summer, when there was rioting, shooting and looting in the streets after Mr. Floyd was killed in the streets of South Minneapolis — I noticed Eric Adams was not defending members of the police department who are under attack, who are being assaulted."

If Sliwa's stances are clear — against closing Rikers, congestion prices and expanding bike lanes, and decidedly pro-police — Adams' often walk a fine line.

A recent New York magazine profile of Adams noted he drew support from disparate groups like unions, billionaires and the New York Post. Part of that comes down to Adams' "way of being all things to all people," the profile put it.