Since being sworn in as NYC mayor nearly four years ago, Eric Adams has made good on campaign promises that included driving down crime in America’s largest city and helping it recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. He did this while dealing with an unprecedented migrant crisis forced upon the Big Apple by the Biden administration and federal corruption charges he was ultimately cleared of that he claims ruined any shot of him winning a second term.
During an exclusive “exit” interview this week with The Post’s Rich Calder at the 103rd Precinct in Queens – chosen by Adams because it was the scene of a life-changing trauma for him – the 65-year-old pol boasted he will leave City Hall with no regrets and his famous “swagger” intact.
He insisted he won’t miss the headaches of the job, looks forward to accepting private sector gigs, and plans to write a book about his rise from a troubled Queens teen with dyslexia to running a city of more than 8 million people.
Ominously, the mayor also predicted “dark days” ahead for New Yorkers because of socialist Zohran Mamdani’s soft-on-crime agenda, and added that Big Apple Jews have every right to be concerned that the pro-Palestine mayor-elect will not combat antisemitism.
Q: When you were running for mayor four years ago, you highlighted how your path to join the NYPD and then run for public office began in the 1970s, when as a 15-year-old, you and your brother were beaten by white cops in the basement of the 103rd Precinct station – and that you wanted to end systemic racist practices “from the inside.” Now today, visiting that same precinct, what are your thoughts and how has the city – and Eric Adams – changed in the five decades since?
A: Not only did we want to … deal with some of the systemic racism that we saw in law enforcement, but also the role of public safety, to show officers how a mayor can support them and allow them to do their jobs — and we did that. The numbers are clear. They can’t be fudged, record . . . decreases in crimes. Subway system is safe. Twenty-five thousand illegal guns off the streets. We brought back order in the city. . . . We brought back a city that was not chaotic, but a city that allowed families to grow.
Q: In July you told me that “dark days” were ahead for NYC if Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor. Do you still feel that way?
A: Yes I do. I think we should be concerned and we are seeing some early indicators. Look, . . . a large number of people who live on our streets deal with mental health illness. We should not be allowing them to live on our streets. . . . We want to bring on 5,000 new police officers to make sure [cop retirements] don’t hurt our law enforcement. We have figured out a successful methodology of making our cities safe. We should not tamper with that at all. Looking to disband [the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group].That’s the same unit that [responded to a deadly mass shooting in July at NFL HQ in Manhattan]. . . . I think New Yorkers need to be alarmed, and I’m hoping that when the mayor-elect becomes mayor he will rethink some of the Democratic Socialist Party’s ideas and policies and see that they’re harmful to New Yorkers. Removing 3,000 inmates from Rikers Island – that is a real issue because they’re going to go back into the communities that they exploited and they preyed on.
Q: You brought up Mamdani’s plan to halt homeless encampment sweeps. How could his plan affect the city?
A: Well, No. 1, we don’t have to be creative in our thoughts. Just go look at cities where they allow people to sleep on the street, to cook on the street, people to relieve themselves on the street . . . When you are so idealistic that you are not realistic, it impacts the safety and the quality of life of New Yorkers. And so you think [NYC is] going to have the 65 million tourists we saw in 2024 when you are seeing encampments lining up in Times Square? Parents, do they want to come outside their homes and see someone sleeping on a mattress on their block or young children walking down the block selling their bodies?
Q: President Trump and Mamdani’s meetup at the White House went surprisingly well. Do you think this is political posturing, or can they actually work together?
A: Let’s be clear: almost half New Yorkers did not vote for Zohran. We’re not going to be able to function in the city if those 49% everyday walk around and say, ‘He’s not [my] mayor.’ That mindset is not helpful to the city, and that’s the same for those who didn’t vote for President Trump. You cannot have four more years of saying the president is not their president. It’s time for us to be politically mature enough and respect our democratic process. . . . So I’m hoping they can work together. There’s some real challenges in front of us. Zohran is going to be able to use all the money in his budget and not deal with asylum seekers because President Trump secured our border, so he should be thankful for that. But I think that it is imperative for him to know that just as he wants people to respect him as a mayor, he has to respect the president as the president.
Q: Do you think Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch will be able to work together?
A: I hope so. Commissioner Tisch has shown that she can lead. . . . The most important relationship you could have in the city is a relationship between the police commissioner and the mayor because safety is the foundation of the success of the city.
Q: There are plenty of Jewish New Yorkers fearful over how the next four years will be under pro-Palestine Mamdani, who has said he will serve all New Yorkers – including Jews. Are you buying it?
A: I have not seen enough to state that I do buy it. There needs to be a clear denouncement of ‘globalize the intifada.’ There needs to be a clear denouncement of people standing in front of a house of worship and calling for harm to a particular group. A mayor must not only lead based on what they say, but what they do. . . . He has to . . . send a very clear message that antisemitism and hate of any faith will not have a place in the city.
Q: What will you miss most about the job?
A: Actually, I’m not going to miss it (laughing). This is a hard job. . . . I’ve been doing 12-hour days, almost seven days a week. You know, the constant critique and criticism. I would love to have finished the things we’ve done for four more years, but trust me, it’s time for me do something else with my life and use experiences that I had as a police officer, as a lawmaker, as the [borough president] in Brooklyn, and now as the mayor to go and help the city more. There’s more I want to do in the city, particularly going after some of the hate we’re seeing, but also, there are other cities across the country and the globe that I could use my expertise in. And so I don’t look in the rearview mirror. I look in the front windshield.
Q: You’ve said you want to write a book. What do you think the focus would be?
A: Well I’m here at the 103rd Precinct. I could have stayed on that floor of that precinct after I was assaulted as a 15-year-old child. I could have stayed feeling sorry for myself for being dyslexic. . . . I could have stayed believing that poverty was going to always be my message. . . . I’m hoping when people finish the book and they put it down, they’re gonna walk away saying this was a mayor and a person that was perfectly imperfect, but he was dedicated, he loved the city, and he was resilient . . . I’m hoping everyone will get to see a part of me in these stories that I’m going to share from the beginning of my journey to the most difficult parts of the journey and how I gave everything I could to the city.
Q: What about pursuing a doctorate?
A: I believe that cities are not run appropriately, and I want to really examine the whole concept of cities and what we’re doing. We’re leaving too many people behind.
Q: You’ve talked about wanting to join the private sector — any particular area of interest?
A: I have a lot of offers. More than I can do, so some I am going to have to say ‘no’ to. But I am going to use companies to manage and run cities better around technology, artificial intelligence. How do we run cities better? There’s a real business interest to do so, and I’m excited about some of the partners that I will be joining.
Q: Will you ever seek elected office again?
A: Never say never. Don’t close the door because then it’s difficult when you have to walk through it again.
Q: Would you ever consider taking a job in the Trump administration – or working for any future president?
A: Again, you never say never. I am looking forward to all the opportunities that are in front of me.
Q: There were multiple corruption allegations that swirled around your office the past three-plus years, including the since-dropped federal indictment involving your campaign. I know you’ve blamed the scrutiny over these allegations and the Campaign Finance Board’s denial of millions in public matching funds as reasons to why you dropped out the mayor’s race. Do you think you were treated fairly?
A: I don’t think I was treated fairly. In fact, I was treated unfairly. And despite all the noise that we received and all we went through, we did not stop delivering for New Yorkers.
Q: Do you have any regrets about not running in the Democratic primary? Maybe if more moderates like yourself would have run, the rank-choice voting system wouldn’t have favored Zohran Mamdani and the far left so much?
A: I have no regrets at all. . . . I said I would sit out the Democratic primary and I would run head to head with Zohran Mamdani [as an independent]. . . . You can’t really look back and cry over spilt milk. There’s a whole lot of milk cartons waiting for me to open.
Q: How hard was it to drop out of the general election and endorse ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an independent? And do you think he would have won if Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa dropped out?
A: I think I would have won if they would have dropped out. . . . Remember 49% of New Yorkers did not vote for Zohran — 49%. But people want to make it seem like there was some landslide. No, it was not. In fact, it was to the contrary. This was a very close race.
Q: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams recently gave you a C-minus grade as mayor. Do you agree with that grade and what would you give her?
A: First of all, does anyone take Speaker Adams serious. (laughing). C’mon. Let’s be honest here. I am not going to grade her because she did not show up in class to be graded (laughing). . . . All the while she was undermining the city, so that she could run for mayor — and look at where she ended up in the race. So I totally disregard her. I’m really sorry for her that, you know, my former high school colleague became so bitter, so angry, and so disruptive.
Q: You repeatedly talked over the years about wanting to revise the city’s sanctuary city laws to make it simpler for the NYPD to cooperate with the feds on immigration matters. Why didn’t you have one of the many Charter Revision Commissions you appointed to review the issue and put a referendum before voters?
A: You know hindsight is 20/20. . . . It’s not up to me to direct them on what to do and what not to do. We tried several things that we hoped they would look at, and they didn’t, but we respect the process. And we don’t try to dictate the process.
Q: Four years ago, you were declaring yourself the “new face of the Democratic Party,” the “Joe Biden of Brooklyn” and you were showing off so much swagger that Saturday Night Live did skits about you. Are you leaving office with the same swagger?
A: You covered me. You saw me. I don’t think I’ve lost my swagger (laughing). That swagger is still alive and well. New Yorkers have swagger, and if you look at what we’ve done to our nightlife industry — a $30 billion industry that was on its deathbed when I became mayor. . . . It’s been a real win.
Q: If you could give a message to all New Yorkers on what it’s been like serving as NYC’s mayor, what would it be?
A: Joy and pain. (laughing). There are good days. There are bad days. There are days that I wanted to get out of bed, and days I wanted to stay in bed. But you gotta take them together. Joy and pain, like sunshine and rain. . . . I enjoyed the joy, and I learned from the pain.
