David Paterson is right: Mayor Adams needs to get tougher

David Paterson for mayor?

Well, not quite. But the former governor of New York just taught the current mayor of New York a gentle lesson in leadership, and Eric Adams could do well to take note.

Successful mayors bring focus and seriousness to their theatrical performances, and after a year in the mayor’s office, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Adams needs work in both departments.

For example, Paterson and Adams last weekend contributed to the debate about the New York crisis: the wave of migrants has not yet reached its climax. But note the stark differences in how they did it and in the messages they sent.

Paterson, during a Sunday radio interview, criticized the protests over the city’s handling of housing for migrants. He called the demonstrations part of an effort to create a new “industry” of charitable housing that New York City can’t afford, especially given its own problems with the homeless.

In fact, Paterson was a gentle rebuke of the city’s largely disjointed migrant policy—and he was absolutely right.

Meanwhile, Adams added to the confusion by running into migrants on Friday night – it was literally a sleepover – at a Brooklyn orphanage. Intentionally or not, the gesture signaled to Washington that New York would welcome more migrants—a signal that the newly arrived nomads themselves probably didn’t miss.

Adams’ stunt was theatre, pure and simple. This confirmed Paterson’s claim that a new industry was indeed being built in the Big Apple. And that was another reason not to take Eric Adams and his city hall too seriously.

People began to notice.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed the mayor’s numbers are gaining water, if not falling. Worries about crime, unsurprisingly, seem to be leading to a recession – and it certainly doesn’t help that voters view the migrant crisis as a crisis.

Blameable or not, officials grieve over intractable problems, especially when those officials were elected on explicit promises to solve them.

The issue of migrants is new, but crime and social unrest are certainly not. Just like mayors are indecisive: Adams’s rhetoric is strong, though wildly inaccurate, and follow through is rare.

Today the mayor is vociferously opposed to federal immigration policy (although he rarely names names), and the next day he’s playing video games at a Brooklyn migrant shelter.

Last November, in a frenzy, Adams announces a muscular plan to bring violent mental patients into involuntary treatment. It was a welcome move, but more than two months later, the initiative had little impact; the metro is as chaotic and potentially dangerous as ever.

During the 2021 campaign, candidate Adams promised aggressive action against crime and related social unrest.

Fifteen months later, he is still speaking harshly, but there are no obvious signs of progress. Indeed, the mayor is playing a rhetorical game with state legislators blocking penal reform; he says next to nothing about district attorneys involved in investigating crime, and he has yet to get Gov. Hole seriously involved in the fight against crime.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of open-air drug galleries, illegal tobacco shops are mocking the state’s marijuana legalization program, and the mayor’s own bean counters just noted a 33 percent increase in the number of discarded hypodermic syringes year-on-year. syringes found on the streets of the city.

It is clear that the arc of progress is bending in the wrong direction. But what to do?

David Paterson is a smart guy. The mayor should invite him to his place for lunch and invite him.

Email: [email protected]

Content Source

News Press Ohio – Latest News:
Columbus Local News || Cleveland Local News || Ohio State News || National News || Money and Economy News || Entertainment News || Tech News || Environment News

Related Articles

Back to top button