As she prepares to leave office, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is looking back on Mayor Eric Adams' administration as an era of embarrassment and missed opportunities.
And she made clear in an interview she’s not ready to let bygones be bygones with the mayor.
“ We went through a period of embarrassment as a community because of the mayor's troubles,” she said of her Southeast Queens district during an interview with Gothamist at the Atlantic Diner.
Speaker Adams, the first Black woman to serve in her role, shares roots with the mayor, though the two aren’t related. Both grew up in the Black middle- and working-class neighborhoods of Southeast Queens. They attended Bayside High School together and rose as moderates in the Democratic Party.
Their elections four years ago represented a peak of political power for the city’s Black community.
“A Black mayor and a Black speaker, leading in City Hall for the first time together. This was such a historic moment in time, not just for Eric and myself, but for New York City. We had the potential to bring each other along into great spaces,” she said. “Unfortunately, it didn't happen.”
She said the dysfunction and corruption scandals of Mayor Adams’ administration derailed his political agenda — and nowhere was that more disappointing than in his home neighborhood.
“ I don't know if he realizes the extent that our community felt it here in Southeast Queens,” Adams said. “This is where he lived and it was painful.”
We went through a period of embarrassment as a community because of the mayor's troubles ... [Southeast Queens] is where he lived and it was painful.
Mayor Adams held a farewell press conference touting his record on Wednesday. His team put symbols of his tenure into a time capsule, including a cigar – representing the mayor’s love of nightlife – and a drone, representing the administration’s affinity for gadgets. The mayor has traveled to Albania, Israel and Uzbekistan since October, and is reportedly soon headed to Mexico.
Mayoral spokesperson Liz Garcia said in a statement that Mayor Adams was spending his final weeks in office highlighting the work he's done to build affordable housing, reduce crime, and make child care more accessible and affordable. She said it was “sad” that the speaker would be using the same final weeks to “bash” the mayor and other public servants.
“The mayor is leaving this administration having made the five boroughs a safer, more affordable city for working-class communities — particularly those in Southeast Queens — and we can only hope the speaker feels she can say the same for herself,” Garcia wrote.
“ The mayor is the face of the city. The speaker is not the face of the city,” Speaker Adams said. “People understand our roles and hold both of us responsible for our leadership positions in those roles.”
Speaker Adams said she chose to join the mayor's race after an exodus of deputy mayors from Mayor Adams' administration.
This trading of barbs is not how their relationship began.
Speaker Adams supported the mayor in 2021, and met him for breakfast at a different diner shortly after her colleagues elected her speaker. They agreed to keep the lines of communication open while respecting each other's authority as the heads of co-equal branches of local government negotiating a city budget of more than $100 billion.
But divisions quickly emerged. The mayor had “contempt” for the Council, the speaker said.
Mayor Adams pushed austerity budgets in the early part of his tenure, saying that they were necessary due to the evaporation of federal funds and a surge in migrant arrivals. He proposed reducing library service, funding for early childhood education, parks and more. He faced fierce opposition from the speaker and her colleagues.
Speaker Adams said she reached her personal breaking point in February of this year when four of the city’s deputy mayors resigned. The Department of Justice had moved to dismiss corruption charges against the mayor, arguing the allegations had hindered his ability to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The mayor seemingly returned the favor by saying he was willing to allow ICE into Rikers Island. He had also become more critical of the city’s sanctuary policies.
Upper East Side Council member Julie Menin is Speaker Adams' presumptive successor.
The loss of expertise at City Hall, Speaker Adams said, prompted her to launch a mayoral campaign, well after many of her rivals. She referred to the ex-deputy mayors, some of whom are now working for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, as the “brain” of local government.
“If the brain fails, what is going to happen to the rest of us in New York? I can't sit back and do nothing,” she said. “That was my impetus for getting into the race for mayor. But unfortunately our runway was too short. There wasn't enough time to build what we needed to build to win.”
Speaker Adams finished with just 4% of the ranked-choice vote, losing to Mamdani.
The speaker said Mamdani would be wise to establish a strong relationship with the Council from the start. He has reportedly stayed out of the race for the next speaker.
“It's good for any mayor to know the members, to get a feel for who they are, where they come from,” said Speaker Adams, adding she was surprised Mamdani did not spend more time meeting with more of the Council after his election.
“I don't know the role that Mayor-elect Mamdani played in the speaker race. I didn't hear too much buzz about anything that he was doing or not doing,” she said.
Politico reported Mamdani attempted to weigh into the speaker's race late. The process resulted in Councilmember Julie Menin, who represents Manhattan’s Upper East Side, emerging as Adrienne Adams’ presumptive successor.
Speaker Adams said she has had a good working relationship with Menin, praising her work on New York City’s 2020 census and their shared experience serving as community board chairs before coming to the City Council.
As someone who lives in what she called the “outer-outer boroughs,” taking the E train from its final stop at Jamaica Center to City Hall, Speaker Adams urged Menin to pay special care when councilmembers outside Manhattan talk about their constituents’ needs. She encouraged Menin to see how people beyond the tony corners of the Upper East Side are living.
“ See how working-class people really live in the outer boroughs. Get familiar with it because she will not just be responsible for Manhattan,” said Speaker Adams. “She will be responsible for 50 other districts besides her own.”
Speaker Adams will convene her final stated meeting Thursday.
