Eric Adams
Eric AdamsREUTERS/Andrew Kelly

On Tuesday, Eric Adams, formerly Brooklyn borough president, was elected as New York City’s next mayor, taking over from Bill de Blasio. Arutz Sheva spoke with Dov Hikind, former Democratic New York State Assemblyman, to find out what the Jewish community might expect from Adams, along with his personal impressions of a man he has previously worked with.

“I know Eric Adams quite well, back from the days when I served in the Assembly and he was in the State Senate,” Hikind said. “We did many things together, including standing up against hate and anti-Semitism.”

Hikind noted that feelings about outgoing mayor de Blasio had been “incredibly negative; there was a sense that he was incompetent. So now we’re cautiously optimistic. I really hope he’ll be able to do the job of running New York, dealing with crime, confronting hate.”

Adams’ background in the NYPD and his stance on a variety of issues gave him an advantage over more liberal contenders for the Democratic nomination when it came to defeating his Republican opponent, Curtis Sliwa. But Hikind stressed that, “New York is a tough place to run. Adams will have a lot of forces arrayed against him. New York City Council has over 50 members, and many are so, so liberal, and they’re going to give him a hard time.”

He also noted the phenomenon of people leaving New York for other parts of the country, seeing that as something that the mayor should be addressing. “There are lots of people leaving. They don’t feel that there’s a future in New York. We hope that’s going to change with the new mayor. The Jewish community in particular has so much invested in the five boroughs that we don’t want people to leave.”

Asked to sum up his expectations, Hikind said, “Eric Adams can become a great mayor on many different levels. We’re hoping that he’ll prove to be a real leader. The test will come, as far as the Jewish community is concerned, when we’re confronted with a crisis – how’s he going to handle it? We hope very much that he’ll be fair and do the right thing.”