Speaker’s final State of the City address doubles as potential mayoral campaign launch
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City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams gave her final State of the City address as the leader of the Council on Tuesday. However, the speech could easily double as her first address as a potential mayoral candidate. Photo by John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
By Jacob Kaye
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams may have called her State of the City address her “grand finale” on Tuesday, but what is an end if not a new beginning?
While the speaker from Southeast Queens dedicated a bulk of her speech to highlighting the accomplishments of the Council she has led for the past three years, her fourth annual State of the City address at times felt like the start of a campaign for higher office.
The address from Adams, who represents Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Springfield Gardens and Rochdale Village, appeared to bring her closer to her to a run for New York City mayor, a move the speaker has reportedly been mulling over for the past several weeks.
During the 43-minute address, Adams took shots at the mayor, who was not in attendance, and at President Donald Trump – at times, in the same breath. She outlined her vision for city leadership, which she said should be centered around collaboration and “collective power.” And despite leading the city’s legislature since the start of 2022, Adams spent a portion of her speech reintroducing herself to New Yorkers, telling the story of her rise from the corporate world, to her local community board, to leader of the most diverse City Council in the city’s history.
“The dignity and trust in government leadership has been shaken in our city, and it must be restored,” the speaker said toward the end of her remarks. “If we remain true to our values and stay united, we will not only overcome the challenges of today, but advance the progress each of us deserve.”
While Adams in no way confirmed that she would be stepping into an already-crowded mayoral race, it certainly left the door open for a run.
“We each bear the responsibility right now for protecting our city, each other and the foundation of our great democracy,” Adams said. “This is the toll we pay for our time on earth.”
“That is our role as leaders of the city, to unite people despite our differences, to achieve what we cannot achieve alone,” she added. “This is how we move forward.”
Adams first reportedly began earnestly thinking about running for the mayor’s office last month after receiving calls from a number of local leaders and elected officials, including Attorney General Letitia James, who felt the speaker would fill a unique position on the Democratic primary ballot and serve as a foil to former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who just entered into the race over the weekend.
But the clock is ticking on an Adams run. Though she created a campaign account with the city’s Campaign Finance Board last week, Adams would appear to enter the race at a bit of a disadvantage. While Cuomo only entered at the start of this month, he immediately became the front runner in the race, largely because of his near-universal name recognition. The speaker, on the other hand, has not held elected office outside of her Southeast Queens Council district and would be running to represent a city that is largely unfamiliar with her.
Nonetheless, the speaker appeared to attempt to prove Tuesday that she not only had a record to run on, but a message to the New Yorkers she’d need to get votes from.
The speaker rejected those who have labeled her as a “moderate” in a race that is largely dominated by progressive candidates.
“My focus has always been public service, which has no political label,” Adams said.
She highlighted the Council’s work passing the City of All, a major overhaul of the city’s zoning laws that aims to create 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years. She also spoke about the Council’s work creating and funding CUNY Reconnect, which has helped $40,000 New Yorkers re-enroll in the city’s university system.
The speaker also hit on her fights with Mayor Eric Adams, who skipped out on the speech to make a trip down to Washington, D.C., where he’ll testify before Congress on Wednesday about New York City’s sanctuary city status. She spoke about the legislature’s efforts to sue the mayor over his refusal to implement their expansion of the city’s housing voucher program. As speaker, Adams has also led a lawsuit against the mayor over his refusal to implement a Council law banning solitary confinement in the city’s jails.
“The purpose of government is to work through our most pressing challenges,” the speaker said on Tuesday. “Why lead if your default is to insist that something is too hard or that we just can't do it? Why not try to help New Yorkers?”
And while a mayoral campaign appeared to color the speaker’s address, she also laid out a few goals for her final year leading the Council.
Adams proposed expanding 7-day library service to 10 additional branches in the city. The proposal comes after the speaker led the charge fighting against the mayor’s proposed cuts to the city’s libraries, which would have forced a number of branches to reduce their services.
The speaker also proposed creating a Minority-Owned Business Accelerator, which would help established minority- or women-owned businesses grow.
Adams also pitched a new type of “holistic community centers,” which “would offer critical physical and mental health services, access to community and recreational spaces, and other programming that promote the well-being of neighborhoods that is integral to public safety.” The first of the centers would be opened in Southeast Queens, Adams said.
Adams, who is expected to make a decision about her mayoral run by the end of this week, walked off stage Tuesday with support from at least one elected official who may prove to hold a key endorsement in the upcoming primary.
"It was refreshing to hear from a leader who is focused on service rather than self, and effectiveness rather than ego,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who himself is running for reelection and facing a challenge from Queens Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, a staunch ally of the mayor. “I am heartened by the agenda that the speaker put forward for the Council — strengthening public health and safety, expanding housing access and affordability, and protecting all New Yorkers, regardless of status.”
"Like my office, the speaker emphasized ways to make our city’s systems work, closing gaps left by the mayor’s administration,” he added. “This address laid out what good we can do when government is focused on the good of the people, not a person."
