Eric Adams Takes NYC Mayoral Primary Victory Lap

NEW YORK CITY — He greeted the crowd at the Hometown Heroes Parade. He shook hands with Sen. Chuck Schumer and received congratulations from across New York City. His face graced news broadcasts all day.

Eric Adams basked in his first full day as the presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee on Wednesday.

And the former NYPD captain, state lawmaker and current Brooklyn Borough President also gave New Yorkers a picture of what his priorities would be if elected mayor.

"We have to end inequalities," he said on "CBS This Morning." "And those inequalities are real. And we cannot continue to ignore they exist."

Adams used his victory lap media blitz to promise a focus on public safety.

"Safety, safety, safety," he said on NY1, when asked what his top three priorities would be. "We are not going to recover as a city with tourism — which is a major economic driver for our city — if we're having people shot in Times Square."

The public safety focus dovetailed off Gov. Andrew Cuomo's declaration this week of a gun violence "disaster emergency" in New York.

Adams, during the CBS interview, welcomed an anti-crime approach that deals structural issues, repeating his carrot-and-stick campaign line of "intervention with prevention." While he talked tough on crime, he balanced it with criticism of police abuse.

He had this message for officers who don't want to be on the streets after facing scrutiny over policing: "I say to my officers, if you don't be on the street anymore, then get off my streets. I don't want to hear someone say, because they don't like what government is doing, you're not going to protect my public."

Adams is heavily favored to win the general election against Republican Curtis Sliwa. Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans in the city.

Sliwa's law-and-order focus doesn't cover the complex issues facing the city, Adams told PIX11.

"Onward to November!" Adams tweeted.

I grew up poor in Brooklyn & Queens. I wore a bulletproof vest to keep my neighbors safe. I served my community as a State Senator & Brooklyn Borough President. And I'm honored to be the Democratic nominee to be the Mayor of the city I've always called home.

Thank you, New York! pic.twitter.com/YU2DBIFU5D
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) July 7, 2021