Eric Adams Is Making A Mayoral Gift List For NYC After Election

New York City NY

26 November, 2021

1:07 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — Mayor-elect Eric Adams barely savored his landslide election victory before he made a spate of sometimes-surprising promises to New York City. Hours after polls closed Nov. 2, Adams rubbed elbows with celebrities at the swanky Zero Bond club and promised the city's elites a "reset." He then embarked on a morning-after media blitz where he repeatedly pledged to be a certain kind of mayor. "I want to be considered a 'GSD mayor' — get stuff done," Adams told NY1's Pat Kiernan. And getting stuff done — or its unprintable alternate formulation — for Adams appears to be both a continuation and a contrast from his soon-to-be predecessor Mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio has frequently faced questions about Adams' apparent differences on everything from the need for child vaccine and mask mandates to whether the city should scrap its gifted and talented program. But de Blasio so far has been taking the implicit repudiations in stride. He also defended Adams against criticisms he's too close to business interests, such as when he flew in a billionaire's jet to the SOMOS conference in Puerto Rico. "I've known Eric Adams for decades, he's a person who is in public service for all the right reasons, and I'm certain it's easy enough to explain this and just move forward," de Blasio said about the trip and whether Adams paid for it. Here's a look at some of Adams' post-election promises and how they've raised eyebrows. Cryptocurrency ambitions Speaking of Adams' flight to Puerto Rico, it wasn't just any billionaire's jet he used. "Eric Adams flew to Puerto Rico on bitcoin billionaire's private jet," blared the headline in the New York Post, which first reported on the connection. The jet is owned by Brock Pierce, a former child actor who starred in "The Mighty Ducks" before becoming a cryptocurrency evangelist of sorts. And it's around the time that Adams made this flight that he started talking big about cryptocurrency. "In New York we always go big, so I'm going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor," he tweeted. "NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!" In New York we always go big, so I'm going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor. NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) November 4, 2021 Many critics argued beyond the fact employers generally don't negotiate how they pay employees — as noted by Slate writers who jokingly wrote, "I'd like my fee for this article in gold doubloons if you please" — that betting on cryptocurrency is too big a risk for governments. Adams has been undeterred. He recently said on CNN that he wants to teach cryptocurrency in the city's schools. Making NYC fun again New York City already has a position informally called the "nightlife mayor," but Adams is looking to make it part of his job description. Adams didn't just visit Zero Bond on Election Night — he hit up two other night spots. He recently promised to visit a new spot every night as mayor. "We're going to patronize nightlife, every night finding a new place to eat at throughout the city," he told the New York Post. "Not only Manhattan. We're going to the South Bronx, South Jamaica Queens, Staten Island." Boosterism is part of Adams' personality — and he'll likely be more comfortable at that aspect of being mayor than de Blasio ever was, the short-lived "Summer of Bill" notwithstanding. A preview could be seen during Adams' first late-night appearance on the "Late Show With Stephen Colbert." Adams offered Colbert a bag of fake marijuana and declared his intention to lift the city from its "so damn boring" doldrums. "This is a city of nightlife — I must test the product," Adams told Colbert. "We used to be the coolest place on the globe. We're so damn boring now. We have to be among the people enjoying life. I want the cross-pollination of our energy and diversity of this city." Reinstating a controversial anti-crime unit But not all of Adams' post-election promises have been fun and cryptocurrency games. Adams, who will be the city's second Black mayor, had a notable rift with some Black Lives Matter leaders over his approach to policing. Specifically, he didn't back down from his intention to reinstate a controversial plainclothes anti-crime NYPD unit that was disbanded amid the George Floyd protests. The firm stance wasn't well-received by BLM leaders with whom Adams had a tense face-to-face. "There will be riots, there will be fire and there will be bloodshed because we believe in defending our people," one activist said afterward, according to the New York Daily News. Part of Adams' appeal to many New Yorkers was his perceived ability to be both tough on crime and a police reformer. He's a Black former NYPD captain who fought for changes within the department, in part driven by personal experience being mistreated by cops as a youth. The problem for many activists is Adams has supported measures they view as steps backward. He has expressed support for bringing back a modified form of "stop and frisk," in addition to the plainclothes anti-crime unit. After the BLM activists warned of riots, Adams not only dismissed their concerns, he held steadfast. The unit he'll bring back will be different, he said. "I made it clear on the campaign trail — I'm going to put in place not the anti-crime unit, I'm going to put in place a plainclothes gun unit," he said on CNN.