New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during remarks Saturday, his first day in office, that the city would recover from the effects of the "dysfunctional" leadership of former city officials.
"Our government has been dysfunctional for far too long and it created its own crisis long before COVID – whether it was crime-ridden communities, poor schools, economic inequality or racial injustice," Adams said. "Our problems have been normalized for generations, while New York's government struggled to match the energy and innovation of New Yorkers. That changes today."
Adams, who was sworn in just after midnight in Time's Square, takes over a city suffering an uptick in COVID-19 cases due to the highly infectious omicron variant and record-high crime rates.
New York City's 447 homicides in 2021 made it the deadliest year in nearly a decade, according to The New York Times. The city also saw increases in burglaries, robberies and shootings.
"With a better city government and a laser focus on taming COVID, turning our economy around and lowering crime, we can add glory to more New York stories," Adams said.
"But to do this, we must also put down the weapons of rhetoric and reach for results. The ideological wars of our recent political past are more costly now than ever as we face such serious challenges," he continued. "These fights divide us by forcing us to make false choices rather than working together on practical solutions."
HAPPENING NOW: @NYCMayor Eric Adams delivers his first address to New Yorkers from City Hall. https://t.co/XWeuAaauKJ
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) January 1, 2022
The new mayor also addressed the hot-button issue of policing in the city as calls to defund the New York City Police Department persist following a number of cases in recent years in which black individuals were killed during encounters with police officers.
"Some will continue to say that we must choose between public safety and human rights. But we can have both. That is why I am going to put more resources into stopping violent crime while I work with [NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell] to bring reform to our police department," Adams said.
And on the issue of the coronavirus pandemic, Adams said he would not support the idea that New York City "must choose between shutting down our city and endangering New Yorkers with COVID."
However, Adams previously indicated that he plans to maintain a number of current COVID policies put in place by his predecessor, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, including vaccine mandates.