New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams delivered her final State of the City (SOTC) address this Tuesday, and then finally confirmed rumors that she would make a bid for Mayor late Wednesday night.
“As a leader of this city, let me address the outrage and sorrow that many of us feel at this moment. As our democracy faces existential threats from within, it is up to us to counter the tyranny taking root at our federal level and right here in our own backyard,” said Adams in her speech, taking aim at President Donald Trump and seemingly Mayor Eric Adams– although the latter was not mentioned by name.
Adams made history as the first-ever woman and Black person elected to be speaker of the New York City Council. She leads the first women-majority and most diverse city council in the city’s history. She would make history yet again as the city’s first woman and Black woman Mayor, if elected.
A Queens native, she is currently the council member for Queens District 28, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village, and South Ozone Park. She opted to endorse her Chief of Staff, Tyrell D. Hankerson, to replace her in the upcoming city council elections since she’s term-limited. Knowing that her time in city council was coming to an end, politicos have been quietly asking her to run in this year’s high profile mayoral race for the last week or two. She declined to make a final decision about running until after her SOTC address, said her team.
In her SOTC address, Adams emphasized several of the City Council’s funding initiatives and programs, such as defending and providing services for immigrants, creating the state’s first trauma recovery centers, funding universal child care and early childhood education, supporting Black and Brown entrepreneurs, and issuing a strong call to “Close Rikers” Island. Many likened her address to an outline of what her priorities as mayor would look like.
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams held her annual 2025 State of the City address at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Tuesday, Mar. 4. (PHOTO CREDIT: John McCarten and Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit)
“New York City is bigger than one person, and our city deserves leadership that prioritizes its people over individual glory or interest,” said Adams. “We need solutions more than slogans, service rather than saviors, and partnership over patriarchy. The dignity and trust in government leadership has been shaken in our city and it must be restored. 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 deserves.”
She spoke about her passion projects like City University of New York (CUNY) Reconnect program, which was first established after she proposed the idea in her 2022 SOTC address, and improving maternal health outcomes for expectant mothers, which she proposed in 2023. Both programs have been highly successful. CUNY Reconnect has helped re-enroll 47,000 students, the majority of whom are women and people of color, and the council’s Bridge Project, an anti-poverty guaranteed-income program for women experiencing housing insecurity, supports 161 moms and their children.
Adams also unveiled several new City Council proposals in her address, including plans to dedicate about $2 million to the expansion of seven-day library service to 10 branches, advancing legislation to reduce payment delays for city-contracted nonprofits, and reducing bureaucratic barriers to accessing City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) vouchers.
Adams formed a campaign committee to begin taking donations last week, and is now in the throes of petitioning season to collect signatures and get her name on the ballot for June’s primary. The last day to circulate petitions is Apr 3, 2025. Her official campaign launch event is set for this Saturday.
Other prominent candidates in the race to unseat Mayor Adams include former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, Assemblymember Zohran K. Mamdani, former Assemblymember Michael Blake, and State Senator Zellnor Myrie. There’s only one other female candidate in the running, State Senator Jessica Ramos.
Cuomo announced his run this past Saturday, much to the chagrin of nearly every other mayoral candidate. They immediately slammed him for his resignation from office in 2021 due to a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, and criticism that he downplayed COVID death statistics, especially in nursing homes, during the pandemic. Despite his record, Cuomo is popular with many voters. About 31% of registered Democrats surveyed by Quinnipiac University said they would vote for him if the primary was today.
“Three and a half years after scandals forced him to resign as New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo leads a crowded field of Democratic mayoral hopefuls with a boost from moderate Democrats,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Mary Snow. “A key number to watch: 16 percent, the slice of voters who are undecided as this race gains more attention.”
According to the polling, Mayor Adams received 11% of the votes, Mamdani got 8%, Stringer got 6%, Lander 5%, Ramos and Speaker Adams each received 4% support; and Myrie and Blake each got 1% of the votes.
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Exciting rally!