Mayor Eric Adams offered a rosy assessment of his first year in office Sunday, touting his administration’s handling of the pandemic and a
recent reduction in crime in the subway.

“New York City’s not coming back, New York City’s back,” Adams, 62, declared on Pix11’s “Pix on Politics.”

Adams pointed to NYPD statistics that showed crime was down in the transit system by 20% in the 28 days before Dec. 11, compared to the same time period last year, telling host Dan Mannarino the change was due to the department’s increased presence in the subway.

“These officers were dealing with low morale, uncertainty of if they carry out their function would we be with them,” Adams said of the
anti-police sentiment in the city when he took office.

“I made it clear I’m not going send my police officers or correction officers or first responders into the line of fire and then abandon them. I’m a general and we’re going to lead them in the front and make sure we get to support their need,” the mayor continued.

“If things go wrong, we’ll hold them accountable, but we know they were going to do a good job and we’re going to continue those initiatives.”

Adams conceded that the public perception that crime was out of control would take time to catch up to reality. Major felony arrests were down 15% over the past month compared to the same time last year, according to the most recent statistics.

Overall, crime was up 25% so far in 2022, with increases in all major felonies except for murder, according to the NYPD.

“We know it would be awhile before people go from how they felt to how they feel,” said the Democrat, adding that his political party has had a “messaging problem” when it came to public safety.

Hizzoner said Democrats “have a good product” when it came to public safety, touting his administration’s efforts to get some 7,000 guns off the streets in the boroughs last year.

He said that the GOP was holding back public safety due to its pro-gun messaging, despite an unexpected showing in the polls last month for tough-on-crime gubenatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Adams said he would continue to push for changes to Albany’s controversial bail reform law, but said other issues like a lack of prosecution and mental health treatment also allowed a small number of criminals to continue to repeatedly commit crimes.

The mayor shot back at critics of his plan to involuntarily commit mentally ill unsheltered New Yorkers, saying the decision to hospitalize people would be led by “mental health professionals not police officers.”

“We cannot allow people in an inhumane way to live on our streets, ignore them act like it doesn’t exist,” Adams said.

Hizzoner was heartened by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s new $9 million initiative to connect homeless people with housing assistance and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

“We took a bold step … and now the chorus is joining us, he’s complimenting our plan,” the mayor said.

“This is an amazing moment for our city, we took a bold step, refused to punt the ball, and you’re seeing other entities saying how to we step up.”

Adams said his officer was regularly communicating with the White House about recouping its estimated $1 billion tab for sheltering asylum seekers, and also defended this the 19 deaths on Rikers Island this year, claiming that the dead prisoners suffered from “severe health care issues.”

The mayor also continued his criticism of the City Hall press corps, alleging local reporters focused too much on crime and not enough on the city’s recovery.

“If the press points out what I can do better, isn’t it only fair that I point out what the industry can do better?” he asked Mannarino.

Adams said his focus in 2023 would be on driving down crime, attracting businesses to the city and building more affordable housing, and shot down suggestions that he was gunning for higher office.