The top issues on NYC Mayor Eric Adams' mind
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has run the nation's largest city for an eventful 114 days.
The city has experienced a mass shooting on its sprawling subway system, major crime is up 43% from the same time last year, and COVID cases are surging. Yet, the mayor remains optimistic as he looks to leave his mark on his hometown city.
60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper profiled Adams for Sunday's broadcast.
Raised in the New York City borough of Queens, Adams described to 60 Minutes a challenging upbringing. His mother struggled to support six children as a housekeeper and cook. Adams said he joined a gang at age 14 and was beaten by police when he was 15.
"They just continually, they kicked us, kicked us in the groin over and over again," Adams told 60 Minutes. "Every time I would see a police car, I relived the beating. Every time I heard a siren."
Eric Adams said Reverend Herbert Daughtry convinced him to join the New York Police Department. He rose to the rank of captain before entering politics, where he served as a state senator before being elected the borough president of Brooklyn.
In 2021, Adams won a crowded Democratic primary and would go on to become the city's first Black mayor since 1993 when David Dinkins ran the city.
When asked about past mayors, Adams told Cooper he sees similarities between himself and Dinkins' predecessor Ed Koch, who was known for constantly asking New Yorkers, "How am I doing?"
The latest Marist poll from March found 61% of responders think Adams is doing well. The poll took place before an April 12 mass shooting on the city's subway system, which left dozens injured and resulted in a citywide manhunt for the gunman.
"If you don't have public safety, everything crumbles," Adams told Cooper in an interview before the shooting occurred. "And I have to make sure the city's safe."
The mayor told 60 Minutes he places an added emphasis on how safe people feel, noting that crime trends and statistics do not mean anything if someone does not feel safe.
"The perception [of safety] is as powerful as the reality," Adams told 60 Minutes. "Because if you wake up in the morning and you hear that someone was hit in the head with a hammer, then you are, number one, reluctant to get on the subway system. And then if you're on the subway system, and you're seeing disorder, encampments, people laid out on the train, loud noises…or cursing, then you begin to actually embody what you read and it becomes your perception, even if you were not attacked. So, we have to deal with the real crime, but we also have to deal with the perception that is being fed to New Yorkers."
In addition to the city's safety challenges, it is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Adams, who is vaccinated and boosted, announced he tested positive for the virus on April 10. The mayor described experiencing minor systems.
Cooper asked Adams about the possibility of the city shutting down if there are future COVID-19 surges.
"The unpredictability of COVID does not allow us to say what will never happen," Adams told Cooper. "But we believe we have the right tools. Everything from antiviral medicines that we're delivering [to] people if they need it, to a great vaccine."
The Adams mayoral administration inherited a rule that mandated all city employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep their jobs. The measure was challenged in court where the city won and the mandate was upheld as a condition of employment. The mayor praised the more than 300,000 city workers who chose to get vaccinated and told Cooper the rule will remain in place.
While campaigning and throughout his first four months in office, Adams has repeatedly pledged to run a transparent administration, a promise he repeated to 60 Minutes.
His critics have alleged that some of Adams' actions are shrouded in secrecy, including his tax returns. When asked at a recent press conference if he would commit to releasing his tax returns, Adams replied, "nope." But he has since said he plans to release his tax information, though he is not legally obligated to do so.
"I don't have a problem of turning over to New Yorkers how much I paid in taxes, my deductions, all the information that people can look at and make their determination," Adams told 60 Minutes. "Transparency is important to me, and that's why I follow the rules that the city and…what we call our Conflict of Interest Board, put in place. There's no rule that's being violated. And that's so important to understand that. Our city thinkers and lawmakers made a determination of what we want from our elected officials. I comply with that 100%."
You can watch Anderson Cooper's full 60 Minutes story on New York City Mayor Eric Adams below.