Mayor Eric Adams (also known as Mayor McSwagger) was due to be a mayor for the people — a beacon of hope and a badge with a plan from Brooklyn. Instead what we got was a self-centered, narcissistic, show king who in the end cozied up to Donald Trump to get his sizable corruption case dropped. In the case of the highest bidder, the bidder is Donald J. Trump and the loser is New York City. As his re-election campaign launches, let everyone remember that this man betrayed the city we all know and love and he does not deserve a second term he deserves a jail sentence.
For the past four years, New York City has sat back and watched Eric Adams turn our city into a private business practice. Backdoor deals, cozying up to real estate developers, and of course aligning himself with political figures whose ideologies slaughter the fiery and very loud soul of New York City.
Because let us be frank, according to Adams Mamdani is a snake oil salesman. Using that logic, Eric Adams is a prolific sell-out and former police officer only looking out for himself and his very deep-pocketed donors and friends. Make no mistake, Adams is deeply unliked in the boroughs, but that isn’t stopping heavy-handed donors and Republican heavyweights from attempting to help out his re-election campaign as he struggles to gain ground with anyone who isn’t on the far right.
It’s a mayorship that promised safety, transparency, and stability. Instead, we got fancy galas, overflowing shelters, a migrant crisis, wiretaps in City Hall, and a Mayor whose inner circle is either under federal investigation or cashing checks on the city’s dime and time. It’s a double-edged sword designed to ensure that Adams’ tenure enriches himself and those around him.
The danger of Eric Adams cannot be understated. His tenure has not only been compromised ethically and morally it has also been dangerous for everyone involved. Working-class New Yorkers, tenants, immigrants, activists, and the LGBTQ+ community. Now with all of these things in mind, I must beg the question — how can we once again trust a man to be mayor who has never had the best interests of New York City on his mind?
The False Promises
What he said he would do V what he did V what went down
Back in 2021, when Adams first campaigned for mayor — he positioned himself as the working-class candidate. But that claim quickly disintegrated after it emerged that Eric Adams was not for the working people at all and had secretly been using his influence as Mayor to cozy up to wealthy foreign nationals in particularly the Turks.
He campaigned as a vegan former cop who knew all too well the demanding hustle that New York City requires from its inhabitants. He claimed to understand the rent hikes, the train delays, the crime, the subway crime, and even promised to bridge the gap between public safety and social justice of governing with transparency… none of which happened.)
That candidate in his full form never actually arrived at Gracie Mansion — the model mayor that should have been delivered is stuck somewhere on the assembly line of prominent Democrats pushed on voters by the powers that be. The same powers that be that are now struggling to decide whether to push for Mamdani (the chosen one) or continue with the same establishment politics that threaten to eventually hand over New York City to the Republicans entirely which would be a new kind of disaster this city has not seen in several years.
Instead of all of these promises, Adams instead abandoned his campaign promises and bullshit for photo opts, power deals, and shady policies that have only made life better for the wealthy and nobody else. Life has become measurably worse for many in New York City under Eric Adams’ leadership.
Grab your glasses folks let’s take a look at the Mayor’s monstrous failures and the false promises that came with them.
Promise #1 ‘I will reform the NYPD and protect communities’
‘We’re not going to allow abusive policing.We’re going to root it out’ – Eric Adams, campaign trail, 2021.
What actually happened…
Under Eric Adams, the NYPD’s budget has ballooned to more than $11billion and it is worth mentioning that this to happen while he slashed school and library funding and rightfully faced intense backlash for it.
Promise #2 ‘I will fix the house crisis’.
What actually happened…
Claim: ‘I do not work for the elites, but for the people’
‘I don’t care how rich you are — everyone plays by the same rules’ – Adams, 2021 debate.
What actually went down…
- During his tenure, despite homelessness at record levels, he reduced shelter funding.
- While doing next to nothing to protect rent-stabilized apartments — he continued and continues to push for more luxury developments.
- Most offensively, he has supported rezoning efforts that have accelerated gentrification in historically Black neighborhoods. The fault of displacing families and their history sits solely at the doorstep of Adams nobody else.
- Despite his claims, donors include real estate tycoons, and private contractors all of whom in one way or another have benefited from Adams’ policies.
- His love for feteing lobbyists and donors in closed-door dinners has made him one of the most disliked Mayors in borough-wide history. These allegations were also brought up in last year’s criminal corruption case against Adams, which was later dropped after he brokered a secret deal with the Trump Administration to go free.
Promise: New York will be the most transparent government in the nation.
What happened instead:
- Press access to city hall has been restricted, with some journalists having reported in the past that they were denied entry or outright blacklisted.
- Adams frequently deploys Trumpian like tactics when the press narrative isn’t going his way (but this is typically only when he gets caught doing something bad.)
The truth is, Eric Adams promised a city that would work for everyone. What they got instead was a Mayor more concerned with aligning himself with foreign business deals and hostile political players who have no space in New York City. Instead of a city that works for everyone, he has single-handedly run NYC more like a personal brand rather than a city. Focused on the image rather than the impact.
Following the money
This sad truth about Mayor Eric Adams isn’t that he has spectacularly failed as Mayor — it’s that rather much of his doing can be chalked up to following the money. No reading speeches, no attending rallies, basically no interaction with his campaign at all — simply following the money reveals a mayor who has always had a personal agenda.
We’re exploring that right now. It’s no understatement that since his first campaign, he has surrounded himself with a plethora of the following: real estate developers, foreign investors, influencers, governments, and private contractors. Many of which have benefited greatly or gained public dollars through their association or bribing of Eric Adams. Eric was never about the people of New York City otherwise he would not have spent the last four years handing over the keys to the city to the highest bidding foreigner.
THE FUNDERS
Adams’ original 2021 campaign was bankrolled by some seriously wealthy people despite his claim that his campaign at the time was for the people.
They included: Stephen Ross (billionaire developer behind Hudson Yards), SL Green Realty Corp (the biggest commercial landlord in NYC, gained access to city contracts.) So it is safe to assume that this time around it won’t be much different.
The money trail abroad
Perhaps most notable is his past corruption case that was dropped after he cozied up to Donald Trump thereby selling out New York City to the highest bidder. A bidder that helped Adams evade prison for his crimes therefore leaving NYC on the hook for whatever follow-up demands emerge from that backroom deal. But most importantly people should remember that just last year he was under investigation for taking foreign bribes from the Turks.
Here’s how that went down:
- At the time, the FBI seized cell phones and devices from top aides over allegations of improper foreign fundraising during his 2021 campaign.
- A Turkish construction company at the time was caught facilitating donations to Adams that were not properly disclosed. The firm later was revealed to have close ties to the dictatorship of Erdogan’s ruling party.
- Since then Adams has visited or facilitated communications with various Turkish officials further implying that he is bought and paid for.
Whether that last part is legal or not isn’t the question or the concern. Voters have a right to know who truly inhabits Gracie Mansion and why.
Examples of cronyism.
A long but not exhaustive list of examples of his backdoor deals and others.
- When the migrant crisis exploded, lucrative city contracts were handed out without competitive bidding. One company given contracts at the time was tied to a longtime Adams associate.
- Also at the time a $432m no-bid contract with a security firm to manage shelters. This contract was later flagged by city auditors for numerous inconsistencies and secrets.
In short, in 2020, New Yorkers stepped up to the plate to fend off the dark forces that Eric Adams now and has for years welcomed into New York City. Dark forces that go against every possible way of life; tradition, and others in the boroughs. Dark forces that often look a lot like; sound a lot like, and govern a lot like Donald Trump. He wants to be seen as a blue state Mayor with enough ‘swag’ to get through it all — but instead has proved that he and the city’s coin purse are open for business if you’re deep-pocketed enough. The mayor of backroom deals.
New Yorkers must stand up to the corrupt Adams and vote him out in the upcoming general election in November.
SOURCES AND CITATIONS
1 The City – “Eric Adams’ 2021 Campaign Faces Scrutiny Over Foreign Fundraising”
🔗 thecity.nyc
2 Financial Times – “Eric Adams: The Mayor at the Heart of Trump’s Justice Department Plot”
🔗 ft.com
3 The Real Deal – “Why Real Estate Doesn’t Abandon Eric Adams”
🔗 therealdeal.com
4 New York Post – “NYC Must Hit the Brakes on Mayor’s Wild Emergency Spending”
🔗 nypost.com
5 The New Yorker – “Why Can’t New York Have Nice Mayors?”
🔗 newyorker.com
Editing for grammatical clarity and other completed by Bazaar AI.
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